Brotherhood
by Lain. H
Summary: They fought like brothers, they bickered like brothers, and they defended each other as brothers, now they must prove how strong the bond of a brother really is. The brotherhood of Konoha of this generation must persevere and embrace the will of fire. AU
1. Prologue: Preparation

_**Brotherhood**_

Summary: They fought like brothers, they bickered like brothers, and they defended each other as brothers, now they must prove how strong the bond of a brother really is. The brotherhood of Konoha of this generation must persevere and embrace the will of fire.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto® Kishimoto-sama does!

_**Prologue: Preparation**_

Today was the day, the day he would receive his first C class mission. He had received the mission details the night before. Uzumaki Naruto was ecstatic this would be his first real mission and his very first time he had ever stepped out of the gates of Konoha as shinobi on duty. The blonde haired, blue eyed shinobi of Konoha awoke with only one thought in mind, to complete this mission and show everyone his skill.

With a smile Naruto leapt out of bed and proceeded to the bathroom. Within the span of two minutes the blonde haired shinobi had taken a shower and was sporting a towel with a large picture of a bowl of ramen woven into it. Flashing his trademark foxy grin Naruto ambled through his messy bedroom in search for some clothes. There was his orange jumpsuit lying on a chair next to his bed but for the purposes of this mission it didn't seem too practical. The blonde looked around for something more practical for his mission. _I could have sworn I bought some new clothes, _thought the blonde as he looked through the piles of empty ramen cups and jutsu scrolls until he found what he was looking for.

A glint in the corner of his eye caught Naruto's attention. There under a kunai and a new set of shuriken was what he was looking for. A green and silver paper bag was under the ninja weapons. Smiling sheepishly Naruto walked to his dresser and picked up the paper bag. Inside was a simple set of sturdy black pants, a dull gray shirt and an all purpose, ninja conscious, black jacket. It had numerous pockets on the inside and out. Most were hidden or had special seals woven into them that activated a very complex genjutsu that hid the entire jacket from one's senses. Even though it wasn't padded down with steel armor or mesh the entire outfit cost quite a bit considering Naruto ordered twelve pairs of everything. _Well there goes my Ichiraku ramen for a month…Unless this mission turns out to generate some serious cash,_ thought the blonde as he changed into his new garments.

After briefly appraising himself for a moment Naruto then went down to the kitchen and prepared some ramen in silence. He knew for a fact that this would be much better the horribly lame and degrading D rank missions he had been doing for the past three and a half weeks. He also knew that there was significantly more danger involved and that brought him to a standstill in his thoughts.

Over his cup of ramen, Naruto mulled over a new set of questions his hyperactive mind had turned up. Would his strength be enough to help the team? He knew for a fact that he wasn't the strongest or brightest in his graduating class. All these thoughts swam around in the boy's head before he slammed down his fist on the table. The rickety, old table groaned in protest at the force of his hand, but Naruto paid it no mind. He gritted his teeth in anger and silently berated himself for letting his fears claim him. _I can't let a stupid C class escort mission frighten me. It is just an escort mission dammit! I mean if the future Hokage cannot protect some old geezer then I do not deserve to even take the title. I will complete this mission, no matter the cost!_ With his resolve focused, the blonde chucked the empty ramen cup in the trash and slung his small pack over his shoulder. He opened the door and spared one last glance at his apartment. With a sigh he turned back to leave, _I will definitely return to this place,_ thought the blonde as he locked the door and leapt off towards the east gate.

Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke sat idly waiting for their remaining teammate, their sensei, and their client to show up. Though it was nearing the time that their sensei, Kakashi, had told them to meet he was nowhere in their range of sight.

Sakura was pissed to say the least. Her fists were clenched in rage. How dare her sensei wake her up at five o-clock in the morning, show up late, and give her a more difficult mission. On top of all that it was below freezing outside. _When we come back from this mission I'm gonna strangle Kakashi-sensei!_ Ranted a small violent version of Sakura locked in the recesses of her mind. In truth she just wanted to do something that would bring warmth to her freezing limbs. Her prayers were answered, she thought, when a shining beam of light peeked over the horizon. At the radiance of it she thought it was the sun but on closer inspection she found out that it was her teammate Naruto. With him the sun seemed to burst out of the clouds and greet the new day in Konoha.

Sakura was confused, _is it just me or did Naruto come out with the sun? _The pink haired kunoichi asked herself wearily. She glanced at her raven haired crush for answers and all she could get out of him was a similar look of mild shock and bewilderment. _The hell?_

Naruto saw his teammates in the distance and quickened his pace to reach them. As he neared he could see the looks of confusion clearly written on the faces of his teammates. "Ohayo Sakura-chan!" greeted the blonde. The girl in question only nodded her head as the only affirmation that she had acknowledged him. This didn't sit well with Naruto but he brushed it off quite easily. He looked around and could see everyone except their chronically tardy jounin sensei. "Oi, where is Kakashi-sensei and Tazuna jiji?" when no response came Naruto was sure that his teammates had ignored him. His smile quickly turned into a frown as the blonde ninja leapt up into a nearby tree. _Damn Sasuke, Sakura, ignoring me as if I'm an insignificant pest. I'll show them who's insignificant when I demonstrate my super kick ass techniques I developed!_ At the thought of showing up both of his teammates his frown turned into a broad grin of anticipation. _I can't wait to get this mission started_.

Much to everyone's disappointment Kakashi came an hour and fifteen minutes late with Tazuna in tow. The sight that greeted him was…disappointing for a shinobi. Sakura had fallen asleep under a tree snoozing lightly under the morning sun. Naruto also was sleeping but much deeper and in a surprisingly awkward place. He was sleeping skillfully on one of the thicker branches of the tree. Sasuke was the only one who hadn't fallen asleep but the boy's constant twitching and his head bobbing up and down showed the boy's obvious slipping in and out of consciousness.

"Yo!"

At the of the jounin's lazy, half-hearted greeting the three genin awoke with a start. Sakura awoke and started her long rant on the importance of punctuality. Kakashi just tuned her out and observed the prepared state of the rest of his subordinates. Sasuke, as usual, was keeping up his stoic, impassive façade while impatiently waiting for the mission to start. The slight twitch of the boy's lip gave away his agitation. Naruto was different today, and his state of dress proved that. _So Naruto, you finally get something that is fitting for a shinobi. I see that you have taken a page out of Sasuke's book as well; but that silence doesn't suit you it makes you seem…more mature? Nah._ The jounin mused as he watched his blonde haired pupil through the corner of his eye. His face was hidden by an uncharacteristically blank mask that showed a side of Naruto that few had seen. Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and walked past his genin charges.

"Alright listen up," commanded the jounin, and suddenly his genin snapped to attention. Sakura stopped lecturing him and Naruto even dropped from his perch and looked quite attentive. "We are going to travel all of today to Wave Country. We will camp out near the port and will be expecting another Konoha team to catch up to us by nightfall. We will most likely reach the country of Wave early in the morning so we will most likely turn in early."

"As you all know this is a low end C class mission so there is a relatively low chance of combat and an even lower chance of death, but still don't do anything rash or reckless." Explained the lazy jounin; taking a dutiful glare at his troublemaking student. To his surprise the blonde remained impassive as if he simply ignored his statement. _I wonder if something is up with him. _The jounin thought before making a quick hand motion. Suddenly there was a loud commotion from atop the wall as yells of "Open the gate!" shattered the still, quiet morning. The heavy wooden gates opened with a loud creaking sound as if the hinges hadn't been oiled in decades. The team split into formation and surrounded their client. Sasuke taking point, Naruto taking the left, Sakura taking the left, and Kakashi took the position of rear-guard.

"Yosh let's go!" ordered Kakashi as a relieved sigh came from his students. The group of five finally started their journey to the country of Wave.

Today was an exciting day for team eight. Their first real mission would start today. All three of the genin met up in front of the Hokage tower as they waited for their jounin sensei. Within minutes of arriving they spotted their sensei coming along the path. "Oi, Kurenai-sensei over here!" yelled a spiky brown haired boy. His voice carried an animalistic growl when he spoke. Acknowledging the group's presence, the jounin waved to her charges.

A silent looking boy who wore a high collar jacket placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. The boy turned to face his teammate and shook his head. "Kiba that was unnecessary. Kurenai-sensei probably saw us before we noticed her." The wait for their sensei wasn't long so he didn't think that the boy beside him was bored…yet. "Hopefully you don't do something this stupid on the mission we are to be assigned."

"Aw shut the hell up bug boy. You and Hinata are all so quiet. It makes me nervous when everything is all silent so would you two at least try to make conversation at least, right Akamaru?" a small white puppy at their feet yipped an affirmative in response. Kiba picked up the small puppy and placed him in his hood. "Yep you all should really talk some more."

"Ano…I think Shino-kun is right though…you should try to at least keep your voice down." said Hinata, a silent member of Konoha's noble clan. Her voice was almost not even heard above the soft morning breeze.

Kiba had to strain to hear what she said but what she said infuriated him. "What! You're with him too!" as soon as the words came out of his mouth he felt a hard fist pound him in the head. "Itai!" he turned to see the one that had struck out at him only to see his sensei's shaking fist. The anger was apparent in her eyes and both of his other teammates stepped back in fear.

"Kiba…you have no idea of how much of a fool you sound like when you say stupid things like that. Silence is a shinobi's treasure and a useful weapon when necessary. You should be glad…that you have teammates that understand this principle so they can cover up your blunders when you decide to go spouting off." The experienced Konoha jounin was pissed and she brushed past the stunned genin as she headed for the door. "Come." Her three charges followed and entered the Hokage-tower for their mission briefing.

They were quickly ushered into the Hokage's office where the Sandaime Hokage was expecting them. After a short gaze of appraisal the Hokage nodded his head and stood from his chair. The three genin and one jounin gave a short bow before their leader as he stood. He smiled and looked them over warmly. "Ohayo Kurenai. I'm sure your genin are quite anxious to get this mission started." said the kindly old man, making a hand motion for them to rise.

Kurenai also smiled at the old man, "yes they were quite excited…well too excited to tell you the truth." Said the crimson eyed jounin. The Hokage and she enjoyed a brief chuckle before they both changed to their "business" mode.

"Is that so? Well I have a mission here for you. It is a C rank dual mission." said the Sandaime Hokage tossing a small red-trimmed scroll to Kurenai. Kurenai caught the small scroll and placed it in her vest pouch.

"A Dual mission of C rank, are you sure my genin will be sufficient for this mission, Hokage-sama?" asked Kurenai, quite surprised at receiving such a high class mission so soon.

"Hai, the first part of the mission is simple. Help create a solid relationship with the country of Wave. Konoha wants to open trade relations with that country at any cost. That is the first part; the second part is not as simple. You are to assist team seven under the leadership of Hatake Kakashi in their mission to escort a bridge builder by the name of Tazuna to his home."

"Now, I usually wouldn't send two teams of genin on a simple C class mission as theirs but we have recently discovered some new information that must reach Kakashi before he runs into an enemy that is far more experienced than mere bandits and such. The mission they are trying to complete defies the wishes of a mass trader and one of the richest men in the world. He has been known to hire either the local yakuza or nuke-nin to do his bidding. As you know there are many nuke-nins that are just too powerful for a single jounin to handle." explained the Hokage to the attentive group of genin gathered before him. Kurenai shifted the weight to her other leg as the Hokage ended his explanation. The mission didn't make sense. Why would he send a jounin _and _three genin on a job that would be far too taxing on them and had a critically high chance of death? The mission rating could range from anywhere between a B class mission to an S class mission. A B class mission was already difficult for a genin why place all of the uncertain factors on the heads of three genin? It was beyond her but she would not let her Hokage down.

"Alright, this mission is extremely time sensitive and should be completed within two months maximum. You are to make sure the bridge in Wave country is built at any cost!" said the Hokage, raising his voice a bit to emphasize his point.

With another bow Kurenai and her team left the Hokage tower with their first real mission. When they got out of the door, Kurenai turned too her team to instruct them once again. "Alright, you heard the Hokage. This mission is time sensitive so no screwing around." said Kurenai glaring at her dog wielding student. Clearing her throat she started again, "we will meet at the East gate in thirty minutes. Do not be late!" ordered the jounin before disappearing in a cloud of ninja smoke. The three just nodded and set off on their separate ways.

A/N: Alright that was my first chapter in a very long time. Hopefully my later chapters for this story and my other one will not take so long. I do not plan on giving up on _Fallen_ but the ideas for this story are continuously being a pain and blocking all of my attempts on my first story so I will work on this one so I can get it out of the way. I am going to take down _Fallen_ for revisions so look for it later on. I hope you all enjoy this story, please remember to review! Until next time Ja ne.


	2. Chapter I: Unforseen Peril

_**Brotherhood**_

Summary: They fought like brothers, they bickered like brothers, and they defended each other as brothers, now they must prove how strong the bond of a brother really is. The brotherhood of Konoha of this generation must persevere and embrace the will of fire.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto® Kishimoto-sama does!

**_Chapter1: Unforeseen Peril_**

The group walked in an unnatural silence towards their destination. They knew they were not overly pressed for time but they moved rather quickly, even with the older Tazuna in tow.

Everything about this situation would be a normal shinobi occurrence, but Naruto was not your average shinobi. He was loud, obnoxious, and even rude to a point. But one thing everyone who knew anything about him knew that the hyperactive blonde could not stay silent for more than a few minutes at best.

So here was Naruto, deathly silent and deeply lost in thought. _Crap I need to focus! I would never forgive myself if I let Sasuke-teme upstage me on this mission. _Naruto's eyes focused sharply ahead. The intensity of his concentration was almost palpable to his two teammates.

"Naruto calm down…It is not like we are headed through a minefield you know." Kakashi said pointedly to the young shinobi.

He huffed and glanced ahead and spotted a small puddle on the ground. His previous thoughts were forgotten as he gazed into the shallow pool curiously. _The hell, it hasn't rained in a good two weeks. How is there a puddle on the ground? And is that the faint traces of chakra that I sense? _Suddenly the chakra levels rose. Not by much but the sudden increase was enough to put the blonde on edge.

_Is that the enemy?_ The blonde was overjoyed but decided not to reveal the fact that he had sensed the shinobi's presence. _Let's see Sasuke-teme's face when I beat the enemy senseless._ Excitedly created a kage bunshin in the bushes and quickly performed a smokeless kawarimi with it leaving the clone in his place. From high up in the canopy of the trees, Naruto observed the attack that was about to commence. _Underestimate me will you? Well I'll kick your sorry asses back to where you came from. _Naruto chuckled barely restraining excitement.

"Naruto" tensed as he passed the puddle…but nothing happened. He positioned his hand closer to his kunai holster and saw that both Sasuke and Sakura showed no signs of noticing the danger that they were in. _Can they really not sense the enemy?_ Unbeknownst to Naruto a startling transformation was beginning to take place within his body and extending to his senses first.

As soon as Kakashi passed the puddle everything went haywire. Two Kiri nuke-nin's lunged at the unsuspecting Jounin wrapping him tightly in spiked chains that were linked between them. With a maniacal laugh the two Nin yanked the chains effectively shredded the silver haired Jounin to pieces. "One down!" one of the kiri nin said as they headed straight for the gap created from the absence of the silver haired jounin.

Sakura turned to see Kakashi being ripped to shreds and almost retched on the spot but then she noticed the many split logs littering the dirt path. _Kawarimi no jutsu, Kakashi-sensei is so cool, but not as cool as Sasuke-kun!_ Sakura positioned herself in front of Tazuna, staring down the two, quickly approaching shinobi. "Tazuna-san, stay close to me!" she said, pulling out a kunai and getting into a defensive stance before Tazuna.

"We're all gonna die!" the old bridge builder exclaimed, hiding behind the pink haired kunoichi.

Sasuke also took a defensive position to the right of Tazuna, wielding two kunai in preparation for the battle with the two shinobi. _This is not good._ The raven haired Uchiha observed as he watched the skillful movements of the two kiri nin. _From what I can tell, both of them are at least a chuunin level threat._ Sasuke thought preparing for the worst.

Naruto took off in a full sprint to the two Kiri shinobi. "Naruto-no-baka, get your ass back over here!" Sakura called after the fleeting blonde and was about to give chase when Sasuke's voice stopped her.

"Matte, Sakura! I'll deal with him you protect Tazuna-san." Sasuke yelled tearing after the blonde. _Che, stupid idiotic Naruto! He's gonna get himself killed!_

Naruto plucked a kunai from his holster, transferred it to his left hand, and met one of the two kiri nin head on. The sound of metal scraping against metal shattered whatever silence was left earlier. The nin that Naruto had intercepted lunged forward intending to overpower the smaller nin but only succeeded in stumbling forward as Naruto sidestepped the clumsy attack. Naruto grinned evilly as he elbowed the nin at the base of his neck with enough force to send him careening into a tree leaving the nin unconscious. _Is this really a shinobi? Man, I'm sure Sakura-chan could take both of them on herself._

Sasuke halted his charge as he witnessed the display of skill that the black clad Naruto exhibited. _Is that really the dead-last dobe from before?_ Sasuke thought as he saw the second kiri nin lunge for the blonde from behind.

Reacting on instinct Naruto sidestepped the lunge but was not quick enough in his execution. The kiri nin plunged his clawed gauntlet into the blonde's back forcing him forward a few meters. Blood spurted out of the wound and the kiri nin chuckled in satisfaction. Sasuke stood there in disbelief; he knew it was too good to be true. That Naruto would be strong enough to take care of both of the kiri shinobi.

Sakura called out to her teammate in worry but remained at Tazuna's side all the while fighting the urge to charge the nin on her own. The body of Naruto went limp on the nin's bloodied gauntlet and the most shocking expression was displayed on the blonde haired shinobi's face when he was turned to Sakura. He was smiling. _What the hell?_

Suddenly there was an explosion and a cloud of ninja smoke obscured the kiri nin from view. Sasuke peered into the smoke, trying to catch a glimpse of his blonde haired teammate. _Kawarimi?_ Sasuke thought, as the smoke cleared it was proven otherwise. Nothing was there, no split wood, no blood, no Naruto. So that only left one possible explanation. _Kage bunshin, of course! Why didn't I see that earlier! Even if dobe is an idiot he isn't stupid enough to challenge two superior shinobi._ Sasuke thought but suddenly he was plagued by confusion. _If that was a kage bunshin, then where is the real Naruto?_

Similar thoughts were going on in Sakura's head as she too contemplated the situation. _Both Naruto and Kakashi-sensei are waiting to strike so obviously they have some plan in mind but why keep us waiting? They are trying to figure out something, but what?_ Sakura was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost didn't see the kiri nin begin to charge her position.

The kiri nin dashed at the pink haired kunoichi, expecting very little resistance. _That blonde haired nuisance caused a lot of trouble for my imouto but it won't happen again._ The nin leapt in the air intending to smash the fragile looking, Sakura into the floor. Her eyes widened in surprise as she raised her kunai to deflect the blow at least. It never came to that as a sandaled foot dropkicked the nin out of the way. The Uchiha crest on a field of navy blue landed softly in front of Sakura. She sighed a breath of relief as her Uchiha savior came to her rescue. _Kakkouii! Sasuke-kun is so awesome!_ "Daijoubu, Sakura?" Sasuke asked sounding less than concerned but it was more than he normally showed.

"I'm alright, thanks to you." Sakura said dreamily, trying desperately to get Sasuke's attention. But his attention was elsewhere a sudden spike of chakra inclined him to the arrival of their sensei. In a cloud of smoke Kakashi appeared next to the nin Sasuke knocked out. He scooped the nin up and went to where the one that Naruto had dispatched lay bleeding from a wound to the back of the skull. _Damn, Naruto probably gave this guy a concussion from the brute force that was in his strike. It is startling that he could actually fight back decently against these nin and have a plan to get rid of both of them. Maybe we must re-evaluate Naruto's abilities._ Kakashi thought as he securely tied the two shinobi to a tree. _The ANBU can take care of them later but we have more pressing matters at hand. It seems that Tazuna-san withheld information from us regarding the mission details._

"Whew! I thought we were goners." Tazuna yelled as he wiped the sweat from his brow. _Those shinobi almost screwed us over. If I were by my self I would have really kicked the bucket._ Tazuna thought as he saw Kakashi heading over to him. Sakura and Sasuke also gathered around but there was still no sigh of Naruto. _Where is he?_ Sakura thought.

"Naruto, you can come out now, and you can get rid of your clone on watch. We might be having little a change of plans." He said, giving Tazuna an appraising glare.

Suddenly a hand popped out from under the ground close to where they were standing then another. The two hands seemed to hoist their owner up from beneath the surface of the earth, the owner being none other than the one and only Uzumaki Naruto. He gave one of his trademark foxy grins as he listened to Kakashi. Sasuke gave him a quick, jealous glare and turned back to Kakashi.

Kakashi chuckled but his expression quickly turned serious as he faced Tazuna. "You want to tell us why you lied about the mission details Tazuna-san?" All three of the genin's attention snapped straight to their sensei. Meanwhile Tazuna dejectedly lowered his eyes at the ground in shame. "On this mission we are supposed to be protecting you from bandits and thieves, not shinobi. This is clearly a B class mission that should have shinobi of adequate skill to complete."

Tazuna glanced at a nearby boulder and sat down on it for support. He buried his head in his hands and proceeded to explain his predicament. "Wave cannot afford such a pricey B class mission and that is with the entire gathered funds of the entire country!"

"Gatou a business tycoon and one of the richest men in the world has decimated the economy of Wave to the point that we must even send our little children to steal food off of someone else's plates just to make it through the day. Our country is _dying_ and I _have_ to complete that bridge to ensure the survival of my people." Tazuna explained in a hushed tone. Tears slid from between his hands and Sakura had moved to comfort him.

Kakashi had heard enough. From the beginning he was going to accept the mission but now that he heard the man's reasoning behind his actions he'd be damned if he couldn't help this country prosper if only for a bit longer. _Knowing that those two nins who attacked us earlier were chuunin level nuke-nins the next one who will come after us will at least be a jounin._ With a sigh Kakashi walked until he was right in front of Tazuna. "We will help you complete your bridge Tazuna-san. We will stake this on our pride as shinobi of Konoha." Kakashi said then turned back to his team. "All right listen up." Kakashi commanded and all of the genins stood at rapt attention. "We are going to camp out about a mile from the port where we will catch our ferry. We are expecting reinforcements so we will wait for them to arrive once we reach the port." Kakashi said monotonously and in the same tone he used in his ANBU captain days. The three genin nodded in compliance and reinstated their formation around Tazuna. They continued to travel well into the evening hours

- -

Kurenai and her team leapt swiftly through the trees. They had been running for hours and had yet to catch up to the other team of rookies. _They must really be serious._ Kurenai thought as she followed closely beside Kiba and Akamaru who took point and led the team in the direction of team seven's scent. Shino and she took the flanks and Hinata took rear guard activating her Byakugan periodically. "Down there!" yelled the energetic Kiba as he pointed to the dirt path below.

Soundlessly the four Konoha nins dropped out of the forest canopy and made their way cautiously through the brush. Kurenai made a few hand signals and a familiar spike of chakra informed her that the message was received. _I'm glad I taught them those hand signals. Now it is up to them._ Kurenai thought as she observed her female charge.

Hinata had seen the message to activate her Byakugan and she quickly activated her kekkei genkai. What she saw was not entirely expected but not unlikely. The signs of a struggle were evident by the several chunks of split wood, and a large hole in the ground. There were even two unconscious shinobi tied tightly to a tree trunk. _I hope Naruto-kun is okay…_ Even though the blonde wasn't on her team she still worried about him.

Hinata relayed the information she acquired via hand signal and also told them that the coast was clear. Even though she knew these precautions were not necessary on this particular mission it was perfect training for the real thing. Kurenai nodded and directed the team forward onto the dirt path.

Kiba was in shock he had yet to see the carnage of an actual shinobi battle, even a small scale one such as this one was. This was the result of the, dead-last, Naruto's fight? It couldn't be. _Must've been Sasuke, Naruto can barely do a henge right much less anything more difficult._

Shino observed his surroundings carefully. His bugs had told him that an oppressive aura had been there earlier and traces of the aura were still palpable even after so much time has passed. Shino was actually quite afraid now. If there was an enemy strong enough to make his bugs cower in fear then there was probably no one on his team strong enough to take them on even with Kurenai-sensei. _I have a bad feeling about this mission._

_Those two nuke-nin…those are the two demon brothers of the mist. Kakashi's team must be quite skilled to take on such a brutal pair._ Kurenai looked up into the sky and noticed that the sun was just beginning to dip behind the highest mountain peak. _I can see now why they would make haste their enemies are going to be much stronger than these two most likely._ "Alright listen up team." Kurenai ordered and the three genin formed up in ranks and listened to their sensei with rapt attention. "We'll have to double or triple our current pace if we are going to catch up Kakashi's team and to do that we will have to go all out. If we travel quickly we may be able to make it to them before nightfall." The three genin nodded while Akamaru yipped in anticipation.

"Alright let's go!" Kiba yelled as he took to the trees with his teammates following close at his heels. _I'll find out what happened in that battle from Sasuke or maybe Sakura._ Thought Kiba as he pumped chakra into his legs and exploded off of the branch clearing at least five trees in his elongated stride.

His teammates sensing the impatience of their dog wielding companion followed suit and dashed forward hoping to reach team Kakashi before nightfall.

- -

Kakashi glanced around as he watched his team set up camp in the middle of a small clearing. Not the best place to camp out but better than nothing. Naruto was busy getting firewood, Sasuke was getting bucketfuls of water from a nearby stream, and Sakura was to hunt for food while he looked after Tazuna. He sat down on a tree stump and pulled out his orange book to read while he pondered certain events that had transpired earlier. _Something happened to Naruto…there is just no way he would have been able to take out a chuunin strength shinobi on his own, especially with his mediocre taijutsu and horrible chakra control skills. Improvements like that in such a short period of time is unheard of even for tensai nin._ The mystery behind his blonde haired charge's growth was frustrating to say the least. _Well as long as it does not complicate the mission any further then I will not worry…For now._

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto had finished their tasks and had left do enjoy themselves around a bright crackling fire. Sasuke and Sakura were _actually_ conversing though most of the input was Sakura's but Sasuke would toss his two cents in occasionally and grunt noting that he was at least paying attention. Their conversation mostly revolved around their blonde haired teammate. "Ne, Sasuke-kun, do you think Naruto actually started taking his shinobi training seriously?" Sakura asked in low tones as Naruto was sitting above them on a high tree branch.

"Iie that must have been a fluke the dobe could not get that good that fast. He won't be able to count on that next time though." Sasuke huffed as he glared into the flames knowing full well that Naruto's development was no fluke. _Just who are you Naruto…?_

"Hmm…" Sakura shrugged her shoulders as she also contemplated her blonde haired teammate's growth. _If Sasuke-kun says it was a fluke then it probably was…but I can't help but feel that Naruto's strength was genuine._

- -

Naruto sat where he was observing the stars and also contemplating the battle that had happened earlier that day. _What was that strength…that overcame me as I fought? _A certain part of the battle flashed across his mind.

**-Flashback-**

_The nin that Naruto had intercepted lunged forward intending to overpower the smaller nin but only succeeded in stumbling forward as Naruto sidestepped the clumsy attack. Naruto grinned evilly as he elbowed the nin at the base of his neck with enough force to send him careening into a tree leaving the nin unconscious._

**-End Flashback-**

_Somehow I took pleasure in almost killing that mist nin. Am I turning into the monster that everyone in Konoha fears?_ Naruto brought his hand up to his face only to find that he was trembling. _Am I turning into the Kyuubi no Kitsune?_

A sudden loud, boisterous bout of laughter thundered in his ears startling him half to death and almost making him fall out of his perch. **"Hate to break it to you gaki but you will never be me."**

Naruto was about to respond but a sudden force stole his breath away from his lungs. **"It wouldn't do you any good if your sensei and your teammates found out that I can speak with you. I'll take you somewhere more private."** Suddenly all went black for the blonde.

When Naruto awoke he found himself laying face down in shallow water. He got up and to his surprise the water felt strangely like air. Naruto observed his surroundings and all he could see in the dim lighting of the dungeon was huge dripping pipes and an infinite labyrinth shrouded in darkness. _Where the hell am I?_ Naruto thought as he numbly ambled through the dank labyrinth.

After what seemed like an eternity of mindless walking Naruto could faintly hear growling and could see a faint red glow spilling from an open doorway. _Damn, stupid fox._ Naruto turned into the chamber and gasped as he witnessed the structure that caged the Kyuubi no Kitsune. What seemed like a huge iron gate housed the greatest demon that had crossed over into the ningen-kai. A simple paper with the kanji for seal held the iron gates shut.

Suddenly the silhouette of a large fox emerged behind the bars and Naruto unknowingly took a step back. _S-so this is t-the Kyuubi no Kitsune…_

**"It is nice of you to have noticed gaki." **The oversized youma said sarcastically.

"What, you can hear my thoughts?" Naruto asked dumbly.

**"Of course baka, we share the same body and are linked by the other blonde brat's damnable seal!" **Kyuubi roared. Naruto flinched at the volume but otherwise showed no other signs of discomfort in the fox's presence.

"Ne, why the hell did you all of a sudden start making a racket in my head? A shinobi's got to be able to think and I can't do that with some fox laughing their ass of at some untold joke." Naruto yelled at the grinning fox.

**"Pfft, like you could think in the first place. Your pathetic mind and body is only now starting to grasp my power when it should have as soon as I was sealed in your damnable body!" **Kyuubi again roared. **"But there is no time for that I wanted to bring you here so you could start the training your Yondaime Hokage left for you. This is the first scroll."** Kyuubi said tossing a small scroll through the bars. Naruto caught the scroll and eyed it curiously. It was a normal looking scroll but had a spiral seal holding it shut the same spiral that Naruto wore on his back.

_This is…_ Naruto began but Kyuubi cut him off.

**"That is a scroll that explains your kekkei genkai. I don't know much about it but the ones who wielded it are the masters of the earth but that is all I can tell you."** Kyuubi explained. Naruto nodded in understanding as he pocketed the scroll intending to read it later.

Naruto was about to leave but the voice of Kyuubi stopped him. **"Gaki, about your performance today…"** as soon as those words left the foxes mouth the boy had whipped around and listened intently for the answer. **"It was your body's instinctual reactions coupled with the increased merging of our chakra. It is your defense mechanism, use it wisely." **And with that the Kyuubi banished him from the mindscape leaving Naruto in total blackness once again laughing heartily the entire time.

- -

"Oi, do you think he is dead?" a slightly winded Kiba asked looking down to where Naruto was. Apparently he had fallen out of the tree while he was conversing with his tenant.

"Kiba-kun!" a cross looking Hinata tried her best to glare at her teammate but only managed to make the boy burst out laughing which, in turn made her instantly find the ground more interesting.

"That was kawaii Hinata! The mighty Hyuuga staring down the…" SMACK, a sudden fist found itself in his face. Kiba flailed around growling, hissing and grabbing his face in an effort to stop the pain. Akamaru got defiantly in front of his master to stave off the attacker but quickly leapt behind Kiba when he saw who was there.

"Damare, you are far too noisy." A different more menacing looking Naruto growled before turning on his heel and leaving for his team.

_N-Naruto-kun!_ Hinata blushed at the thought of seeing her crush so close to her. Especially in his new and improved wardrobe. Her bright tomato red face would have probably been a beacon in the night if it weren't for the fire nearby.

Kiba who had recovered enough glared hatefully at the retreating back of Naruto. _Damn you!_ "Oi Naruto get your ass back over here!" Kiba yelled. Naruto didn't even spare a glance at the boy but he did give him the finger. _Why you!_ He would have charged the boy but a hand gripping his shoulder held him in place. He turned to see Shino shake his head disapprovingly. The Inuzuka boy sighed in defeat. _Che, Naruto has a way of pissing everybody off I think._

Hinata watched and was very glad for Shino's intervention. _I-I wish I was strong enough to keep the peace between our teams._

- -

Kakashi, Tazuna, Kurenai, and the rest of team 7 watched the spectacle from afar, simply refusing to get involved. Kurenai turned to Kakashi who was reading a familiar, orange covered book. "Kakashi I thought you would have taught him better." Kurenai said.

"Well, he hasn't been himself lately. If he were then we would have to have intervened." Kakashi said simply not even turning his gaze away from his book. Kurenai raised her eyebrow at this but said nothing. Tazuna muttered something about super crazy kids before turning back to Sasuke and Sakura and informing them more about Wave country.

Naruto ambled beside his sensei and said one word loud enough for the silver haired man to hear. "Training." The silver haired jounin said nothing for a moment and the blonde started to walk off before the jounin's voice caught him. "One hour." He nodded and the boy walked off leaving a puzzled Kurenai who had been standing right next to Kakashi.

"What happened to him? I thought he was a nuisance?" Kurenai asked confusion etched deep into her voice.

"Who knows?" Kakashi said still not turning from his book. Kurenai gave him an incredulous glare before turning back to the fire.

- -

"Damn it! I paid you good money and all you can thank me with is FAILURES!" a short stubby man dressed in a finely tailored suit yelled at a tall dark haired man who wore a slashed Kiri hitai-ate.

"Damare. There will be no more failures" The man said drawing a huge head cleaving knife from beside him and brandishing it at the suit wearing man. "Because I will take care of this myself." The man said with a dark chuckle. The suit wearing man backed up to the far wall.

"You better be right. That bridge builder better be dead by the end of the week." The man in a suit said before leaving.

_Someone who is able to dispose of the demon brothers…this might be a challenge. I'm looking forward to it._ The man thought as an evil laugh reverberated through the building.

A/N: Yes! My first chapter done I hope you are enjoying this story so far if you have any questions or concerns e-mail me or post it in your reviews and I will get back to you as soon as possible.


	3. Chapter II: Encounter

_**Brotherhood**_

Summary: They fought like brothers, they bickered like brothers, and they defended each other as brothers, now they must prove how strong the bond of a brother really is. The brotherhood of Konoha of this generation must persevere and embrace the will of fire.

I do not own Naruto® Kishimoto-sama does!

A/N: I really did not like writing this chapter. Even though I had it down on notes I deviated from them too much. Well I tried my best for this one. The next should be better, hopefully.

**_Chapter 2: Encounter_**

Naruto was awoken by the shaking of his tent. At first he didn't move but when the scent of breakfast reached him he shot out of his sleeping bag like a bullet. _Need foood…So hungry._ Due to his training the previous night he had opted to skip dinner in favor of trying to comprehend the scroll he had received from the Kyuubi. Now he regretted it as his stomach rumbled, pleading for a delicious morsel to fill it.

He quickly changed into his shinobi gear; taking just a few minutes in all. He was just adjusting his hitai-ate on his forehead when Sasuke peered in the tent. With a smug smirk upon his face he greeted his blonde haired teammate. "Hurry up and get your ass in gear dobe-kun, everyone is ready to go except you." Sasuke said before leaving the blonde in his tent.

_Kuso! I missed breakfast!!_ The blonde hurried and packed his 'tent'. The 'tent' was really just a piece of tarp and a few sticks since he had not been allowed to purchase a real tent at the supply store. Still he was grateful for the fact that the tarp was waterproof and wind resistant.

Heading down to the fire pit where the food was, he saw that there was not a scrap to be found. _Che, damn pigs…Stealing all the food…Worse than Chouji…_ Naruto growled in annoyance as he walked to the clearing where he overheard Kakashi explaining how they were going to proceed forward.

"All right since we are in two teams we will take two smaller vessels to Wave to arouse less suspicion. My team will protect Tazuna-san on one vessel. Kurenai your team will follow three meters to our port side." Kakashi explained. Naruto slid in beside Hinata earning a startled "Eep!" from the girl. The blonde put his index finger to his mouth and shushed her as he tried to duck down behind the taller Kiba. She turned back to listen to the jounin. _N-Naruto-kun!_

Kakashi looked around to see if the genin had absorbed the information when saw a tuft of blonde hair sticking out from behind Kiba's huge jacket. _Hmm…I guess Naruto has not grasped the concept of escaping detection. In fact none of my three genin have much skill in any of the finer departments of being a shinobi…We are going to have to work on that._ "Naruto, since you were late this time you are in charge of keeping Tazuna-san from harm until we reach the port." Naruto was slightly surprised, he cursed under his breath for being detected. He moved from behind Kiba and glared at the laughing dog wielder.

He turned and glared at Kakashi as well and then turned to Tazuna who was looking down at the ground mumbling something. Shuffling his feet Naruto approached Tazuna and began making hand seals. When he came to the last one he whispered the jutsu under his breath. "Tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu!" Suddenly about twenty-three clones appeared in the clearing startling the unsuspecting genin. Hinata and Sakura shrieked, while Kiba and Kurenai gawked at the sheer number of clones. Both Shino and Sasuke raised an eyebrow and wondered what the blonde was going to do. With a motion of his hand all of the clones dispersed. Some leaping into the trees and others disappearing into the ground until there were no clones left to be seen.

"K-Kakashi, you taught the boy that jutsu?" Kurenai asked the stunned jounin. Clearly she had not heard of the boy using such a jutsu and neither did her team. _From his data he could barely use a normal bunshin…How could he have mastered a jounin level jutsu with such proficiency and in such a short amount of time?_

"Hmm…nope." The silver haired jounin said; his "smiling eye" gave her suspicions that he knew how the boy had learned the jutsu. _Then who could have taught it to him?_ Kurenai was still as confused as before and Kakashi looked as if he was not going to answer her questions.

_The hell? Why would the dobe make so many clones? How can he make so many clones? From what I remember that was the one jutsu he totally sucked at…_ Kiba thought as he pondered the strength of this "new Naruto".

"Ne Kakashi-sensei is that enough for now?" Naruto said as he stifled a lazy yawn. _He can do more!_ Kiba screamed inwardly. That was an _insane_ amount of chakra to just dish out for a genin. _How could the dead last blonde have so much power?_

"I think you went a bit overboard but it's good enough." The boy beamed as he turned to his teammates and tried to start a conversation with them. _Hmm…I think I also need to teach them some restraint…Even with his abnormal chakra capacity, he can still run out…eventually..._

- -

High in the treetops two figures watched the six genin paying attention to the instruction of two jounin. _So that is why the demon brothers lost…They lost to Copy Ninja Kakashi…_ A large man who wore the slashed hitai-ate of Kiri. A very long head cleaver was strapped to his back. _Oh what fun…Makes me want to start the bloodbath already._ The nin chuckled softly as to not arouse the suspicion of the two jounin below. A small, frail looking boy nudged the Kiri nuke-nin's shoulder. "Ne Zabuza-san, do you want to commence the attack now?" The boy asked; his voice impassive and cold.

"Iie, we will wait until the situation favors us…that alright with you…Haku?" Zabuza asked the young boy.

"Hai, Zabuza-san."

- -

Twenty minutes had passed and nothing noteworthy had happened. Naruto was getting restless and was fighting the urge to pull out his scroll and start reading up on more of _his_ family's techniques. _Crap this is soo boring. I hope we get there soon._ Wailed Naruto in his head since Sakura threatened to pound his head in if he so much as made a peep. Suddenly a huge dark figure appeared on the horizon. _Is that land? Finally!_ Naruto's hopes were dashed as it turned out to be a thick cloud of fog.

"What is with this super thick fog? I can hardly see my hand in front of my face!" exclaimed Tazuna as he shut off the boats engine. A tall dark skinned man who had been operating the boat that Kurenai and her team were traveling in also shut off their boat's engine.

"Tazuna-san, we'll have to paddle it out from here." The man said as they entered the fog.

"What, why?" Kiba yelled, forgetting that they were trying to get by undetected. Everyone winced as a loud resounding slap echoed through the fog.

"Baka it is to make it easier for us to get to the mainland without getting detected and encountering any enemies." Kurenai hissed at her student who was then sporting a red handprint upon his left cheek. _I am definitely going to have to teach him the necessity of subtle shinobi precautions._ Kurenai huffed before peering out into the thick fog.

The mist was heavy and cold, Naruto wrapped his arms around himself in an effort to ward off the chill. "Damn I'm freezing…" He mumbled. The mist seemed to lower the normally moderate temperature and a sudden breeze chilled the group to the bone.

A sudden passage from the scroll Naruto had read flew through his mind out of boredom. _A fairly simple test is able to determine if one has inherited our kekkei genkai. The user must be able to exhibit full control over earth based jutsus and partial adaptability when it comes to water based jutsus. Simply channeling chakra into the environment and molding it to the desired shape should suffice._

_Wait a minute…I might have a way to get rid of this stupid fog. _Determinedly Naruto placed his hands in the seal of the ram and channeled chakra into the air around him. _Yosh! Let's do this!_ Naruto poured his chakra into the atmosphere and the mist seemed to waver a bit before condensing in front of him. The fog thickened in front of him and Naruto began to panic. _What is happening?_ A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his reverie.

"Naruto what are you doing?" Sakura asked in a whisper. Naruto's concentration completely shattered and the mist seemed to even out to its former consistency.

"N-nothing Sakura-chan." The blonde whispered back. Naruto formed the seal again and began to channel chakra into the air when a sudden flash of pain in his wrists caused the chakra to explode in his face. He looked down and saw the silver glint of metal sticking out. _Nani! Senbon?_ Naruto's thoughts were cut of as a hail of senbon rained upon him, impaling his arms and part of his back. Naruto yelped in pain as he dove to the floor of the boat. Sakura shrieked as a new wave of senbon rained upon the boat.

_Shimatta! I wasn't expecting an attack out here… _Kakashi leapt off of the boat flashing through a long chain of seals. "Suiton: Suijinheki!" a tall barrier of water surrounded the boat deflecting the many tiny needles. The water's rotation began to pull in the other boat closer.

Suddenly Kurenai had an idea. _We need to stay close to Kakashi's team. _"Shinji, bring us closer to them! We must support them!" Kurenai yelled; Kiba and Hinata paled while Akamaru hid in his master's jacket. Shino remained impassive as ever.

"Hai!" the boater fired up the engines and the boat sped off towards the other. The added rotation of the water wall drew them in faster. With skill Shinji shut off the engines and yanked on the lever that brought the boat sideways next to the water barrier.

"Kiba, Shino, when the barrier falls link the two boats together, got that?" The two of them nodded in response. "Hinata, protect Shinji and watch team seven's back, I'm counting on you." With that Kurenai disappeared behind the veil of a genjutsu.

_Kurenai-sensei is c-counting on m-me? W-what if I a-am to w-weak? W-what i-if I…_ Her thoughts were cut off when Kiba's shout rang through the mist. "The barrier is falling!" As soon as the water fell back down the two boys brought the boats together and used wires to hold them together.

_I see, so that was Kurenai-sensei's plan…this platform will give us more room for maneuverability, thus making it easier for us to protect our charges and each other._ Shino deduced as he finished linking his end. "Shinji-san, I advise you to duck down please." The boater nodded and ducked down in the small boat.

Kiba finished linking his end and the three of them made a semi-circle around Shinji, with Hinata taking point. Sasuke, who had seen what the other team was doing, instructed Naruto and Sakura what to do. "Oji-san is there any small islands around here that can offer better protection?" Sasuke asked, leaping nimbly away from the senbon that rained from above.

"Hai, there is one a few meters away from here." Tazuna supplied from where he was ducked down.

Sensing the urgency in their voice and feeling a rising level of chakra approaching them; Hinata scanned the area and found the land mass a few meters away. "Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, there is a small island twenty meters to port." Hinata yelled, her timidity forgotten in the midst of battle. Kiba and Naruto manned the engines and steered them towards the island. It was only until they felt a powerful surge of chakra behind them did they realize the danger they were in.

As the island neared the boys quickly shut off the engines and rushed everyone off of the boat. "Come on, move it!" Kiba yelled as he shoved the nin onto the land. Shinji and Tazuna huddled together next to a grove of bushes and the six genin made a protective circle around them.

They waited those few tense minutes in silence. The air was so tick with tension that it was almost physically tangible. Suddenly a barebacked man with spiky brown hair materialized before them. He had bandages covering his mouth and a giant zanbato strapped to his back. He studied the genin for a moment before walking slowly and deliberately towards them. He spiked his killer intent until he could see the genin trembling under his icy gaze. The six genin closed in tighter around their charges and drew weapons. Naruto began another set of seals until the man's icy gaze was directed exclusively at him. The man drew his zanbato and wordlessly charged the blonde. Naruto drew a kunai but knew it would be useless against a weapon of that size. _Why me?_ Naruto flew through a set of seals and braced himself for the man's blade. Gasps and cries out to him reached his ears before the blade went through him and he erupted in a plume of smoke. He reappeared a few meters behind the man and back flipped to the edge of the island well out of the nin's reach but in front of Tazuna. Everything was silent until the man spoke. "You were the one who was messing with the mist weren't you." A deep voice that was obviously the man's reverberated out over the clanging of metal that was going on elsewhere out in the mist.

Everyone was holding their breath in silence but they knew he was talking to Naruto. "And if I was? What would you do about it?"

"Baka! What are you saying "what would you do about it" that guy could skin you alive!" Sakura yelled bonking the blonde over the head. _Naruto no baka, trying to get himself killed…_ The man chuckled darkly and bent down to pick up something on the floor.

"All of you are weak pathetic fools that are not even fit to bear the title of shinobi. Yet you prance around as if this were some kind of…game." He said holding out his arm and letting the thing that he had picked up dangle from his hand. It was a Konoha hitai-ate. "You want this back, well you will have to take it back by force!" The man yelled not even turning to acknowledge them.

The gleam of the metal and the abundance of scratches that showed him that it was not just any hitai-ate. It was the hitai-ate that _he _had received from Iruka-sensei. _How the hell did he get it?! No one puts their grubby paws on the hitai-ate that I got from Iruka-sensei!_ With a ferocious battle cry the blonde charged the nin. Peals of chakra cascaded off of his form illuminating his body in an eerie blue light. "Naruto!" Sakura yelled in a fruitless attempt to stop the blonde. _Naruto-kun, kiwotsukete (be careful)_ Hinata pleaded.

"Hmm…I guess this one has a death wish." The man whipped around with his blade slicing where Naruto was only milliseconds before, in its place was a kage bunshin which erupted in a plume of smoke. "Nani?" he looked around him but couldn't see the blonde. _Then he must be…above!_ Sure enough the blonde was sailing upside down in the air twisting his body he spun flinging a deadly rain of kunai towards the nin. He leapt out of the path of the projectiles giving Naruto enough time to right himself and land.

"Oh so you think you can match me huh? Well match this." He pocketed the hitai-ate and started to fly through a long chain of seals.

Sakura noticed what kind of jutsu it was going to be immediately and yelled for her teammate to run. "Sasuke-kun do something! If he completes that jutsu we could ­_all_ die!" she yelled launching volleys of shuriken and kunai at the nin. Said nin only sidestepped each volley and continued making seals.

_Shimatta, I hope this works. _"Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu!" a huge plume of fire erupted from his mouth and sped towards the man.

"Hmm…Nani!" he had to drop the jutsu to leap out of the way of the flames. A deep rut in the earth showed the path of the flames before revealing dark scorched earth.

When the smoke cleared there was a great divide between Naruto and Zabuza. "So that one has some skills…" Zabuza turned to Sasuke and the four nin behind him. A small white dog growled at him from behind a savage looking brunette. "Ah, by the looks of it we have a fledgling Inuzuka, by the amount of bugs flitting around me an Aburame, Hyuuga, and three no names. Hmph, Konoha must be getting desperate if they are sending whelps like you out on missions. But enough talk, step aside or die. Those are your choices."

"That or we kick your ass; Akamaru, let's go!" Kiba said tossing a soldier pill to the white dog. The dog ate the pill and his fur turned red. Kiba took one as he charged the nin with Akamaru on his heels. "Juujin bunshin!" he said as Akamaru leapt up upon his shoulders. A cloud of smoke obscured them from view momentarily before the duo burst out as identical copies of Kiba. "Shikakyu no jutsu!" one yelled, crouched down on all fours and leapt off in a burst of speed with the other trailing right behind.

"Idiot's going to get killed." Sasuke said before dashing off to aid his comrade. Sasuke, Kiba and Akamaru brutally assaulted the kiri nuke-nin. It seemed as if they were winning as the nin had little time to dodge their frantic blows. Kiba lunged forward but Zabuza twisted out of the way. Kiba turned to attack again but he realized that he had overextended his reach. _Shimatta!_ Zabuza took advantage of this and whipped his sword around knocking the two genin away. Akamaru's concentration broke and the juujin bunshin fell from the heavy blow.

Sasuke sat up immediately only to have a heavy foot force him back down on the floor. The bigger man stomped down on the boy's chest causing him to cry out in pain. He repeatedly stomped down on the boy's chest until blood escaped from his lips and his eyes dulled. With a maniacal grin hidden under his bandages the man raised his zanbato high into the air and then... it began to fall. "This is the end gaki."

Sakura watched on in horror as the blade fell. She didn't know when it happened but her feet had started to move and everything seemed to move in slow motion, _I won't let him kill Sasuke-kun_. Naruto also lunged forward but he knew he wouldn't make it in time. Faster than she had ever thought possible she closed the distance and was standing directly above Sasuke's prone form.

Zabuza hesitated for a moment at the arrival of the pink haired girl but he resumed his downward slash. _Oh well killing two birds with one stone…_ In an act of desperation, Sakura threw up her arms to guard. The heavy blade bore down on her small arms and a stinging pain flared through her arms. Sakura resisted the urge to cry out in pain as a scarlet stream of blood trickled down her arm. The force was unbearable but she didn't give up for fear of what would happen to Sasuke if she were to fail.

The pressure was ever building and her arms were quickly being pushed further down. The flow of blood didn't stop and her vision was getting clouded. _Must hold on…for…Sasuke-kun…_ Suddenly a loud snap and a new wave of pain caused Sakura to black out. "Sakura-chan!" Zabuza flung the small girl off of his blade leaving her in a heap next to the fallen Uchiha.

Naruto sprung forward and stepped between Zabuza and his fellow Konoha nin. _**What** **are you doing?**_ A voice in his head asked. Ignoring it he steeled himself as the nin started walking towards him. **_Are you trying to get killed?_ **Again he ignored it. Zabuza now stood directly in front of the blonde yet he didn't budge. _I will not run, I must protect Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme._ A deep chuckling came from within him. **_Amusing, you place the lives of those who treat you worse than trash above your own._**

Kiba was getting scared now, even though the nin wasn't moving closer to him, he was moving towards a fellow leaf nin. Not the best leaf nin but one nonetheless. "Naruto, run!" the dog wielder yelled, but the boy remained defiant and unmovable.

**_Such stubborn determination, it receives my commendation and a little parting…gift._ **The voice said. Suddenly Naruto felt a little lightheaded and stumbled on his feet. Zabuza took this opportunity to finish the blonde off…or to at least attempt to. He swung his blade and instead of the sound of steel cleaving flesh there was only the sound of blade whistling through air? _Nani?_ The blonde appeared beneath the blade and delivered a fierce uppercut to the nin's jaw.

Zabuza staggered back and Naruto, not waiting for him to reorient himself, leapt up and tossed a round of kunai at the nin. The knives landed with a dull thud and Naruto smirked in satisfaction. _Got him._ It was short lived for the nin suddenly blossomed into a field of frozen spires. _Shimatta!_ Naruto tried to turn himself away but he was unable to in the air.

The long, thin spires pierced through his body and came out from the other end. The blonde cried out in pain as the blades painfully receded. Scarlet rivers of blood flowed from the wounds as he was dropped onto the ground. The mist nin turned into a puddle and then a form of the mist nin rose out of the puddle. "Touketsu no sentou (frozen spire)…I didn't think I would need to use it on a mere genin…" Zabuza said, gazing down to the fallen blonde. _My eye!_ Naruto grasped his head where one of the blades pierced. He felt a painful stabbing and burning sensation in his eye and where the multiple blades had pierced. It seemed like the blades were laced with some kind of poison. _Kuso._ Naruto could feel his consciousness slipping and he was too drained to fight back. The blonde fell to the ground unconscious within a matter of moments.

Hinata who had been watching the battle knew that they were in a _very_ bad position. Team seven had been put out of commission and Kiba was in no condition to fight and protect Akamaru at the same time. Even worse was that team seven was completely at the mercy of the mist nin with them being at his feet and all. _W-what s-should I do?_ Her teammate who had seemed to sense her distress placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hinata… we will get out of this…somehow." Shino, not really the optimist, said trying to calm his panicking teammate. "That nin is not really the real one. It is just a bunshin so if you used your jyuuken you could take it out. I am going to try and attack him with my kikai bugs but the chance is slim that I would be able to get him without a distraction."

"Can I leave that to you?" The bug user asked. Hinata didn't think she could but gave her teammate a nod anyway.

_It is just creating a distraction…I think I can manage that._ Steeling her resolve she flew through a few seals and activated her kekkei genkai. With a cry of "Byakugan" the blood vessels near her eyes bulged out from the power flowing through them. She then flew through another set of seals. One so basic that just about anyone who knew anything about ninjutsu could recognize it at a glance. "Bunshin no jutsu." She whispered and four clones poofed into existence next to her. Zabuza's attention shifted from the blonde to her instantly but before her mind could panic Shino spoke up again.

"Don't worry, I'll back you up." He said reassuring her. Hinata nodded once again and then took off, her clones trailing behind.

_So the Hyuuga is going to try her hand eh?_ Zabuza plunged his blade into the ground as Hinata approached. _I cannot afford to even be touched by her hands._ The Hyuuga heiress jabbed an open palm strike to the nin's center which he sidestepped. Zabuza did not wait for the Hyuuga to regain her balance and attempted to backhand the girl. Fortunately for Hinata, or unfortunately for Zabuza, the girl was just a bunshin. _Shimatta!_

Hinata saw her clone disappear in a cloud of ninja smoke. Her stomach knotted in dread but she quickly shook the feeling. _Don't worry. It was just one clone. We are in a position to end this._ The kiri nin was facing away from Hinata and she took the opportunity to charge him. With a battle cry all her clones rushed in with her trailing closely behind. The real Hinata threw a few kunai and shuriken, hoping that at least one would land a hit. It was not to be for Zabuza suddenly drew his blade and knocked away all of the projectiles. The clones that were caught up in the slash were dispelled in a cloud of smoke. Hinata had leapt back just in time to avoid being gutted by the massive cleaver.

Shino was slowly advancing a group of insects towards the kiri nin. _Just a little bit more._ The small bugs were concealed in the smoke. As soon as the bugs informed him that they were above the target, He gave them the attack order. _Now!_ The bugs dived at the nin and started to drain the bunshin's chakra.

Zabuza, feeling the draining of his chakra, immediately went into a panic. "Get them off of me!" He yelled flailing around. The bugs only kept on coming until there was only a puddle of water left on the ground.

_We have defeated the clone, now to get our comrades out of danger._ He flew through a small set of hand seals. "Kikai bunshin no jutsu." He whispered and suddenly there was a rustling from the sleeves of his shirt. A swarm of insects buzzed forth and came together forming a clone of Shino. "Hinata we need to get team seven into a safe area in case that nin comes back or decides to send more clones." Shino said and proceeded to take Sasuke to the area next to where Tazuna and Shinji were hiding. Hinata went to where the nin was defeated and picked up Naruto's dropped hitai ate. She then took Sakura to the hiding spot by Tazuna. "Kiba are your wounds manageable?" Shino asked as he approached the dog wielder.

"Aa, nothing more than a few scrapes and bruises. Akamaru is in worse condition though." Kiba said as he cradled the small white puppy in his arms.

Hinata approached her crush with hesitation but she reached out to him anyway. _Naruto-kun…you got badly injured while protecting your comrades…I wish I could be as brave as you._ Suddenly the blonde stirred and Hinata stepped away in surprise. "N-Naruto-kun! A-are you sure you s-should b-be getting up?" the shy timid girl asked as her crush arose from a puddle of blood. She gasped at the sight and immediately drew the injured boy towards her. Her stuttering was forgotten in her worried state.

The blonde looked down at his body with his good eye. _Che, that kiri nin did a number on me. Speaking of which, where is he?_ Naruto looked around to see that there were only sounds of combat coming from further in the mist and not near them. "Nee, where is that eyebrow-less freak?" the blonde asked, as suddenly there was a pain in his chest that pulsed every time he breathed.

"Don't worry. I'm right here and this time you won't be so lucky to survive. Those jounin are not here to protect you so you will die, here and now." A voice that suddenly materialized out from further in the mist said.

"You!" Naruto placed himself between Hinata and himself as the nin appeared from the mist right in front of him. Shino also stepped up with his clone nearby. Even Kiba leapt up and extended the wall between Tazuna and the kiri nuke-nin.

_So they all want to die. I'll make it swift and painless._ He grasped his blade tightly in his hands and suddenly disappeared.

All three genin jumped in surprise. He was so much faster now. _Where did he go?_ Kiba asked himself as he extended his senses outward. Suddenly a foreign chakra from above caused him to look up to the nin descending with his blade poised to attack. "Above!" the dog wielder yelled and it only took a moment for his companions to scatter. The kiri nin landed heavily as he had intended to cleave at least one of them in two.

Zabuza leapt out onto the water's surface as he watched the genin regroup. _Hmm these genin are a bit better than I thought but this is the end!_ He flew through a long chain of hand seals. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu!" he yelled and a huge dragon made of water rose from the water around him.

Naruto paled as the dragon started to descend. If the thing hit land then they would all be washed away. He knew for sure that he didn't have the strength to swim back to shore if that happened. _I have to prevent that at all costs._ He blurred through a quick set of hand seals, ignoring the pain in his hand every time he created a new seal. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" In a puff of smoke three clones appeared. _Hmm I thought I put out enough chakra for at least ten bunshin…_ He thought, but dismissed the thoughts. "Don't let that thing touch down! We have to destroy it _now_." The blonde yelled loudly to his clones. The three gave a thumbs up before moving into action. One of the clones launched kunai at the dragon but it was to no avail. The blades just bounced off as if the dragon had protective armor. The other two started to attach exploding tags to some kunai when a sudden black blur sliced through the dragon.

It howled in pain before losing form and exploding into a shower of water. _Nani?_ Zabuza looked around for a figure before he felt a cold steel blade on his neck. "It's over." An icy voice said from behind him.

The kiri nin began to laugh darkly. "So this is how it ends eh Kakashi?" the kiri nin said, still chuckling.

"Aa." Was the only response he received. Suddenly a few needles sliced through the air and embedded themselves in Zabuza's neck. He doubled over and began to sink into the water. Kakashi grabbed the nin before he sank too low. _Where the hell did that come from?_ Kakashi looked around and saw the source of the needles. A young hunter nin stood on the shore. _Damn, he couldn't be much older than Naruto…_

"Thank you for helping me kill Zabuza. I have been tailing him for a while and I appreciate you getting him into a position where I could take him." The hunter nin said, bowing to Kakashi before approaching him.

"Iie, it would have had to be done. After all he was a nuke-nin." Kakashi handed over Zabuza to the smaller nin and watched as he created a few hand seals.

"Arigatou, Kiri is in Konoha's debt for aiding us in retrieving one of our own. You have our gratitude." The hunter nin said before disappearing in a whirlwind of leaves.

Kakashi stood there for a minute and then sighed. He pulled down his hitai ate and stepped forward. A sudden jolt of pain flared through his body and it tensed up in response. _Shimatta, chakra depletion…_ The silver haired jounin pitched forward. Fortunately Kurenai dropped her genjutsu and caught the jounin.

"Kakashi, you have overexerted yourself." The crimson eyed kunoichi said to the man in her arms.

"Sumanai (Sorry)." The silver haired jounin croaked out before losing consciousness. Kurenai sighed as she returned to shore. She was greeted by a battered but worried Naruto.

"Nee, what happened to Kakashi-sensei?" the blonde asked.

"Chakra depletion. But don't worry he should be fine soon." Kurenai reassured before returning to Tazuna and Shinji. "Tazuna-san, this may take a while longer since we have to treat the wounded. I hope you understand." The crimson eyed jounin said as she knelt down before the injured Uchiha first.

"Take your time. After all you all are risking your lives to protect mine." The old bridge builder said as he sat down next to the trembling boater.

Kurenai used a basic scanning jutsu to check Sasuke for injuries. What she found shocked her. _Two broken ribs are all he has now but it seems like the Uchiha doesn't take care of his medical needs. Most of his limbs are healed wrong. It is as if he neglects treatment. I will have to inform the hospital when we return to Konoha._ She healed his ribs the best he could with her limited medical knowledge. She bandaged him up and laid him down to rest.

She then moved Sakura who was in worse shape than Sasuke. If it was any indication to her, the odd angle at which her arms were bent implied that they were broken and the gashes on her arm led Kurenai to believe that the girl had blocked Zabuza's blade with her forearms alone. _Does this team not have any self preservation capabilities?_ Kurenai set the bones and healed them. They were a bit easier to mend than Sasuke's. Since there were no organs she didn't have to worry about puncturing any internal organs. She cleaned the wound and bandaged up the pink haired kunoichi.

The crimson eyed jounin wiped the sweat from her brow as she walked to the only conscious member of team seven. When she approached the blonde he looked up and then looked back down as he was examining some type of scroll. "Naruto-kun, I would like to examine you for injury. Please lay down." The boy began to sputter in protest but Kurenai would have nothing of it. "I don't know what Kakashi has been teaching you but by now you should know the importance of first aid. On the field like this it could save your life or the life of your teammates." Kurenai said, her eyes showing an iron will determination to get the boy to comply with her demands.

Naruto was about to say something but decided against it. With a pained sigh he lay down, carefully trying to keep the pressure off of the more painful areas. The blonde almost hissed in pain as he lay down on a rock but bit his tongue to prevent the sound from coming out. Kurenai saw this and activated the scanning jutsu once again. What she saw almost gave her a heart attack. Through just about every organ in the boy's body was a puncture hole. Even more surprising than that were the scars from past injuries on various organs and muscles. Some more gruesome looking than anything she had seen or heard of before. _Where the hell did scars like these come from? No one should be able to survive wounds like these…_ She shook the thoughts away from her mind as she concentrated on healing what she could. Suddenly an intense discharge of chakra tossed the kunoichi a few meters back. She landed haphazardly on her back but quickly righted herself.

Shino and Hinata came over quickly after seeing their sensei being thrown back from a blast of chakra. "S-sensei daijoubu?" the timid Hyuuga heiress asked. Kurenai waved her away and stood up.

" Hai, it was only chakra discharge. I guess my chakra is unable to heal Naruto-kun." Kurenai said dejectedly as she packed up her stuff. She looked to the sky as the mist started to clear. _Hmm, it is almost noon we should be able to make it to Wave before nightfall._ "Alright we are going to continue on. Another hour or two at most and we _should_ be there." Kurenai said as she hefted the unconscious jounin onto her shoulder.

Naruto created a few kage bunshin to scoop up his teammates and transport them to the boat. He was careful to not aggravate their wounds any further. Kiba held Akamaru in his arms as he entered the vessel. Shino traveled with Naruto as the vessel he was on was seriously undermanned if something were to happen.

"Alright let's go I'm exhausted." Naruto said as he felt a sudden wave of dizziness overcome him. He grabbed his head and the side of the boat to steady himself. Unfortunately it was the side that the blades had pierced his eye. Naruto had to; once again, bite his tongue to keep from hissing out in pain. He earned some worried glances from his companions but waved off their concerns. "I'm fine." _Damn that hurt like hell._ Naruto tried to open his injured eye but found that he could not. He cursed the kiri nin who did this as they shoved off from the small island.

- -

The nin had made it to the mainland without incident. However when they reached the mainland a group of bandits ambushed them. "Kuso, if we get ambushed _one_ more time; I swear I'll lop somebody's head off." Kiba growled as he forcefully plucked a kunai from one of the downed bandit's back.

Hinata was dressing a wound on Shino's shoulder as he had been struck by an arrow. "Well then we should pray that no unlucky soul crosses our path ne?" the bug wielder said earning some loud and colorful curses from his dog wielding companion.

Kurenai was extricating Tazuna from being tangled in a mass of vines that he managed to get himself into and Naruto was checking his teammates and sensei for any further injury. The clones had done an outstanding job in protecting them but it left him somewhat drained. He stumbled on his feet and caught himself on a nearby tree.

The crimson eyed jounin caught this but did not comment. _That boy has overexerted himself as well… Kage bunshin most likely was the culprit. Though it is true that it is a very useful technique; it also has the drawback of using an abhorrent amount of chakra. The fact that Naruto-kun could use it for such an extended period of time is amazing._ She thought as she saw the boy shake off his fatigue and return to her.

Kiba, Shino, and Hinata also finished and regrouped next to her. "Nee, Tazuna-san how long will it take to get there?" Kiba asked as he cradled, now semiconscious, Akamaru in his arms. The puppy yawned and snuggled further into the dog wielder's jacket.

"We should be able to see the gates in a few minutes." The bridge builder said. Kurenai nodded and followed as the man led them down the path.

- -

Naruto was dead on his feet as the Tazuna's house loomed before him. His consciousness was continually slipping and the world swirled before his eyes. _Left, right, left, right, left…_ Was the mantra that Naruto repeated over and over, pushing his body to move forward. Even though team eight was right with him they were not nearly as tired but they were still beat. Suddenly, but not unexpectedly, the blonde pitched forward, unconscious. The clones that were supporting his teammates disappeared in a cloud of ninja smoke and they fell haphazardly to the floor.

Kurenai picked up Sakura and Kakashi while Tazuna carried Sasuke and Naruto. Kurenai sighed in both relief and worry. _At least Naruto-kun is not putting out chakra towards his clones anymore… But I still have to monitor his chakra levels. No telling if and when they will become unstable._ "I think it is about time we rest." Kurenai said and her team quickly obliged, going into the house and collapsing in the walkway.

A young woman with dark hair came into the room and smiled at the sight. Kurenai sighed once again. _I think I am also going to have to teach them some manners._ She thought. Tazuna turned to her, his eyes gleamed of appreciation. "Arigatou, without your aid, getting back here would not have been possible." The graying old man said before moving the guys to one of the upper rooms and the girls to one adjacent to it.

Kurenai sat down on her futon and faced the wall across from her. "I am just doing my job…Tazuna-san…" she said, more to himself than the old man. He smiled at her and closed the door as he left. Kurenai stared into the darkness for a moment before lying down and letting her consciousness slip away into dark oblivion.

- -

So I finally finished another chapter. I really didn't like writing this chapter but I look forward to writing the next. Hope it turns out better than this one did. Please R&R. Constructive criticism is appreciated.


	4. Chapter III: Awakening

_**Brotherhood**_

Summary: They fought like brothers, they bickered like brothers, and they defended each other as brothers, now they must prove how strong the bond of a brother really is. The brotherhood of Konoha of this generation must persevere and embrace the will of fire.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto® Kishimoto-sama does!

- -

_**Chapter 3: Awakening**_

It was as dark as pitch when Naruto awoke. He groggily looked around for what had awakened him but all he saw was inky darkness and pale moonlight that filtered in through the blinds on the other side of the room. The blonde got out of his futon and stealthily put on his shinobi garb. Strapping on his kunai holster; Naruto left the room, careful not to awaken his comrades.

Unbeknownst to him Kakashi had witnessed his every move. _I wonder where he is going._ The silver haired jounin thought before shrugging it off and going back to sleep.

- -

Naruto had made it to the outlying forest surrounding Tazuna's house. He had a strange feeling in his chest as if the forest was calling out to him. The blonde pushed through several thorny bushes before arriving in a clearing. What he saw amazed him.

There jammed to the hilt in a boulder was a short dagger. Pale moonlight accentuated its features and its beauty captivated Naruto at first sight. The hilt was dark like obsidian and sharp like it too. From what he could see was a crystal like blade and probably sharp like one as well.

Naruto stepped into the moonlight ring and approached the small weapon. He bent down and tentatively reached out and grasped the hilt of the blade. As soon as his hand wrapped around the weapon a mind numbing electric sensation surged through his body and he immediately blacked out in pain.

- -

Cold, very, very cold; that was how Naruto felt when he awoke for the second time. Floating in an empty abyss Naruto was. He turned about and all he could see was a blue expanse that darkened as it went further away from him. _Where am I?_ Naruto asked himself as he mindlessly turned about. Flipping and twirling in the weightless expanse.

But alas it was only for a short season as suddenly the weightlessness ceased and the blue spiraled into red as Naruto fell into the depths screaming. The blonde landed upon a hard surface on his back. A burning, stabbing sensation erupted from his entire other side and the blonde whimpered in pain.

Naruto raised his arm and saw that it had been shredded to ribbons. He had to forcefully hold down the urge to throw up as he saw bone and muscle twisted and contorted while obsidian like spires pierced the limb. Naruto lowered the limb and turned his head to the side.

A pain as if he were dragging his head across a broken glass tortured Naruto's mangled body even more. What he saw caused him to start to tremble. There were more bodies around him and all around them were candles and a single door.

Suddenly the door opened and a figure stepped into the room. Concealed by the shadows, Naruto could only see a billowing cloak through vision that started to grow hazy. "Oi." The blonde heard in a vaguely familiar and comforting male voice.

While he couldn't see much he could still see the shadow of the man in his clouded vision. He could feel when the man placed his hand on his forehead. He could feel the pain in his body suddenly vanish as if it had never been there in the first place. The cloudiness in his vision suddenly faded away as the morning mist does in the sunlight.

The man picked him up and while the blonde expected his back to explode in pain, only a cool, calming sensation ensued. In the serenity of the sensation, Naruto relished the feeling, engraving it into his consciousness. When the man laid him down it was on a soft object like a bed or futon. Opening his eyes Naruto gazed into sapphire blue eyes, just like his own only more kind and shadowed slightly by remorse.

The man was the first to look away and when he did, Naruto gasped in surprise. Long golden blonde locks of hair graced Naruto and also reminded him of a similar hairstyle that was etched into the Hokage monument of the Yondaime Hokage. _In fact he looks just like him…_ Naruto inwardly remarked. "Who are you?" Naruto croaked through a parched, dry throat.

The blonde haired man whipped out a glass and water seemed to materialize from nowhere into it. At full the man handed the glass to Naruto. The smaller blonde gratefully downed the glass in one gulp. The man chuckled at the boy's antics before refilling the glass.

"I guess you are wondering who I am and where you are." The mysterious blonde haired man said. Naruto nodded and sipped from the glass at a more reserved pace as he sat up on the presumed bed.

The man started with a chuckle. "You are going to totally flip when I tell you who I am." The blonde said. Naruto vaguely recalled Kakashi using words similar to that before he became a gennin. Naruto tilted his head to the side inquisitively.

"I am Namikaze Minato," Naruto's eyes bulged out at the declaration, "or at least I was until the Kyuubi came into the picture." The self proclaimed Minato said; resentment laced through his voice as he mentioned the fox's name.

Naruto plugged two and two together really quickly in his mind._ If this man is Minato-sama then he was the Yondaime. If he is then HE is the one who sealed the blasted fuzz ball into my stomach in the first place!_ Righteous anger started to fill Naruto's body as more and more pieces seemed to fall into place. The anger began to take corporeal form as crimson chakra started to leak through the seal at his navel.

Minato sensed this immediately and pale emerald chakra blazed at his fingertips as he drew a figure in the air with his hand. With speed that Naruto couldn't follow Minato placed the figure upon Naruto's forehead and the crimson flow of chakra abruptly stopped and the blonde's anger faded into nothingness.

Naruto fell back to the bed as the power that fueled him was suddenly cut off. "Doushite?" Was the only thing Naruto asked as he fell back onto the bed, tears gleaming at the corners of his eyes.

Minato briefly looked away before turning back to the younger blonde. He knew what Naruto wanted to hear but he knew what emotions would be dredged up if he were to reveal everything at that time. "I cannot tell you at this time because of the sensitivity of the information. Once we return to Konoha, however, I will be able to tell you the full details. In exchange I will give you some particularly important information right now." Minato said.

Naruto's downcast eyes simmered with anger but even he knew of the sensitive nature of the information and knew what kind of adverse side effects such an emotionally strenuous experience could have on his performance. Naruto raised his head and shot a glare at the older man, "Fair enough."

While Minato knew exactly what he needed to say to put him in Naruto's favor, he just needed to know just _how_ to say it without pissing the easily irritable blonde. _I guess that this situation cannot get much worse than it is so I might as well come clean._ "Naruto, let's see how I can say this. You have a kekkei genkai." Minato stated.

Naruto's eyes bulged put like saucers at the former Hokage's statement. Him, have a kekkei genkai? It was a ridiculous thought to have considering the blonde's known lineage, which was none! Naruto erupted into a brief fit of laughter before calming down enough to address Minato. "Come now, there is no way I could have a kekkei genkai. If I did the villagers would have a little more respect towards me regardless of the damned fox." Naruto stated icily.

Minato visibly winced at Naruto's frigid tone. His logic told him that the other blonde was right. _Little squirt has a point._ Of course Minato knew a little more about the current situation and that precious bit of information was his trump card. "Yes, that would be true, but only if your kekkei genkai was of common knowledge and not a double S-classed village secret." Minato stated nonchalantly.

Once again Naruto's eyes bulged out again in surprise as his brain tried to wrap itself about the idea of him having a kekkei genkai that was a double S-classed village secret. "No way, that dinky scroll that Kyuubi gave me had nothing in it that even remotely suggested an S-classed village secret much less double!" Naruto shouted as he sat back up using the dark walls as a support.

Now it was Minato's turn to laugh. "Those scrolls that Kyuubi gave you are only the groundwork basics to the _secondary_ ability you have."

"No, the true nature of your kekkei genkai is right here." Minato stated evenly as he waved his hand and a scroll about as thick as Naruto's body and about as tall appeared at Minato's side. The scroll looked old, very old. The yellowing parchment and water stains along with the dust and dirt that coated the outer layer were only a testament to this fact. On the seal were the spiral emblem that Naruto wore and an embossed seal of Iwa?

Naruto eyed the seal warily, why would his kekkei be in a scroll from Iwa? _It seems kinda fishy to me._ Naruto thought as he observed the scroll in its entirety. The only scroll he had seen that was even close to that size was the kinjutsu scroll he had stolen in order to learn the kage bunshin. "It is kinda hard to believe that my kekkei genkai would be detailed in an Iwa scroll that is, considering I actually have one." Naruto stated; choosing his words wisely as he voiced his concerns.

"Well would you like to test and see if I'm right?" Minato said a slight smirk pulling the corners of his mouth.

The younger blonde shrugged what would it harm to try? "Sure, why not?" Naruto said as he hopped off the bed. Minato placed the scroll on the bed and instructed Naruto on the basics of blood seals. Grasping the concept quickly Naruto procured a kunai from his holster and pricked his finger deep enough to draw blood and deep enough so that it wouldn't heal too quickly. He let a drop of the crimson liquid fall into the center of the seal and it instantly sizzled and burned away revealing the contents of the huge scroll to Naruto.

A huge grin spread itself across the blonde's features as he rolled out the scroll in giddy anxiety. The glint in the blonde's eye showed his eagerness as he delved into the scroll, basking in the wisdom of his ancestors.

- -

A/N: Sorry about the delay and the short chapter but I will update soon enough. I lost most of my work in a hard drive crash but this came out of it and I am quite pleased. So expect updates soon. Until then Ja Ne!


	5. Chapter IV: Our Walk

_**Brotherhood**_

Summary: They fought like brothers, they bickered like brothers, and they defended each other as brothers, now they must prove how strong the bond of a brother really is. The brotherhood of Konoha of this generation must persevere and embrace the will of fire.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto® Kishimoto-sama does!

_**Chapter 4: Our Walk**_

A fierce explosion rent the air and a huge plume of dirt erupted from its center. Windows were shattered and gale-force winds tore away at the slumbering town. Needless to say the Konoha shinobi were up on their feet and out the door in seconds.

"What was _that_?" Kiba asked as he hopped down the steps trying to get his tabi on. Shino, who was right behind him as he went down, decided to answer the question.

"I believe it is safe to say that that was an explosion." Shino said stoically as he leapt over the railing in an attempt to get around the slow moving dog wielder.

"No shit, smart ass." Kiba mumbled under his breath. The boy managed to get his footwear together as he made it to the bottom and like a bullet he took off in an attempt to catch up to his partner who was already out the door. _Kuso!_

When Kiba had finally arrived outside Kakashi was already barking orders. "…Will take the girl's and ensure the safety of the villagers. Sasuke, Kiba and Shino will come with me." The silver haired jounin stated. "Is that all?"

Sakura raised her hand to speak. "Yes?"

"Where is Naruto no baka? He should be here with you right?" Sakura queried.

Kakashi shook his head. "As much as I hate to say this, I really don't know where he is." Kakashi stated truthfully. _Of course I have this feeling that he is caught up in this somehow._

Sakura took the answer with a barely perceptible nod. When he was met with silence for only a moment Kakashi decided it was time to move out. "If we are not back by the time you are finished helping the villagers then you are to act as our support." Kakashi stated; his voice was calm and collected yet it held a commanding bark. Was it possibly reminiscent of his ANBU days?

When Kurenai nodded and leapt off with Sakura and Hinata, Kakashi took that as his cue to leave. "Let's go team we don't have far to go." With a resounding "Hai" they all pelted into the forest.

- -

Another fierce explosion rent the air and a shockwave of compressed air flung trees and dirt skyward. Naruto, who was hiding in said trees, was caught in the maelstrom. His panicked yells were drowned out by the deafening roar of the wind. When the winds died down the boy fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

Motionlessly the boy laid face-down in the clearing. He was _not_ having a good morning. Some random, masked Iwa shinobi had decided to attack him for no apparent reason. Sleeping in the woods was not an offense punishable by death. At least he thought it wasn't.

But when the sound of the masked shinobi's boots crunching against the dead leaves grew louder and louder with each increasing step he knew that something was up. Groaning he rolled over and came face to face with a katana blade pointed at his throat. _Nani!_

"Hey s-shinobi-san, what d-do you want with m-me?" The boy's words came out as nothing more than a tentative whisper.

The shinobi stood there for a moment as if recalling something but Naruto couldn't really tell. The mask was in the way. "You have two choices Uzumaki." Naruto gasped. This guy knew him! Or he, at least, knew of him. Naruto listened carefully to the man as he greatly weighed his chances of escaping alive. "You can come back with me to Iwa and be our heir or…" The man thrust the blade forward and before the blonde could move grazed the boy above the collar bone. "You catch my drift?" The man said. Naruto could imagine a maniacal grin and glinting beady eyes looking hungrily upon his helpless form.

"Or he can get up and help me kick your sorry ass back to whatever hole you crawled out from." A monotonous, _familiar _voice said. _Sasuke!_

The man looked around frantically for the source of the voice. He turned his head left and right but could not find the source of the voice. _Then that means…_ The man looked up and saw a black-clad, raven haired youth descending from the treetops.

Said black-clad youth delivered a ferocious axe kick to the man's masked face. With a sickening crack the man fell forward and his blade fell to the ground with nothing more than a muffled thump.

Sasuke landed noiselessly with a smirk on his face. "Are you alright dobe?" Sasuke asked, outstretching his hand. Naruto grasped it and hauled himself up.

"Yeah I'm fine." _Prick._ Naruto added as a mental afterthought.

"Alright, the rest of you can come out now." Sasuke said and three figures leapt out of the bushes.

"Dammit Sasuke, you were supposed to let me get a piece of him." Kiba said; a playful joking smirk adorned his face.

Sasuke just scowled and walked away. Shino, who had been silent, stood over the fallen shinobi examining him. _So this is an Iwa shinobi._ He looked towards Naruto. _What would an Iwa shinobi have to do with Naruto?_ Shino wondered but pushed his worries to the back of his mind as Kakashi leapt down into the clearing.

He glanced at the shinobi before binding him tightly. _So Iwa is out for him already…I think Hokage-sama ought to know about this._ "Very good team, secure the area and make sure this guy has no accomplices." The jounin said and with a resounding "hai" the three shinobi and one puppy leapt off. Naruto was about to take off after them but was stopped by a firm grip on his shoulder.

He looked up and saw Kakashi scrutinizing him intensely. The blonde squirmed uncomfortably under the man's gaze. It was for only a short moment before the silver haired man released him. "Naruto follow me." The jounin said sternly; the blonde silently obeyed, adjusting an uncomfortable object in his sleeve.

- -

Hinata grasped the small girl tightly in her arms as the fierce water current swirled and churned around her. The Hyuuga heiress stuck to the bottom of the, now flooded, street, holding the little girl to her chest. Apparently an old dam collapsed from one of the tremors and the water flooded whatever it could not destroy.

_I hope I can hold out until Kurenai-sensei returns._ Suddenly the sound of feet splashing water reached Hinata's ears and she activated her kekkei genkai to see the source of the noise. She gasped when she saw a dark robed nin with an Iwa hitae-ate lunging at her. Instinctively she cut the flow of chakra into her feet and she was swept away out of the nin's attack range.

The girl tightened her hold on Hinata and Hinata had no intention of letting the child die at the hands of the mysterious attacker. _I won't let her die…_ Steeling her resolve she flared her chakra from every tenketsu and a swirling aura of blue chakra enveloped her temporarily. When the chakra aura dissipated Hinata was hovering inches above the water.

The attacking nin watched in awe as the once helpless girl now hovered above the water. _That girl, who is she to them? Why must I kill her?_ The nin wondered as the girl returned to the water's surface. While the nin was intrigued he knew his duty and the consequences if he failed. _I must take this one, I must._ He pulled a small crystalline dagger from within his cloak and charged.

Hinata saw the man and saw the child holding onto her chest. Absentmindedly she transferred the child to her back before taking small tentative steps on the swift moving waters. Her chakra partially gave way and she almost lost her footing but caught herself as the man lunged towards her. Instinctively she leapt away narrowly avoiding the jagged blade.

With a grunt of frustration the man caught himself and reflexively lashed out at the Hyuuga heiress. Hinata parried his wild swing with a kunai she had whipped out of her holster. The man leapt away and began hand seals however Hinata had other plans. _No you don't!_ With an uncharacteristic act of boldness, Hinata closed the gap between them and delivered a two fingered strike to the man's throat.

His jutsu was disrupted as he broke out into a fit of coughing, buying Hinata just enough time to creep up behind the man and knock him out. The man's knees buckled and he was swept away with the current.

The lavender eyed heiress's heavy labored breathing steadied as she looked for any sign of the man in the water. There was no trace of him so the byakugan user went ashore. As soon as Hinata's feet touched the ground the small girl on her back leapt off and ran to her parents and her parents ran to her. Several of the other villagers ran to embrace the little girl's savior. Hinata blushed crimson at the close proximity of the people and the praise she had received. The swelling of pride she felt when the people praised her made her feel strangely warm inside. _I-s this what it feels like to be admired?_

Hinata looked out among the sea of faces and saw smiles and tears of joy. _This feeling…is good._ The Hyuuga heiress made sure to etch the smiles, the laughter, and the pure unbidden joy into her memory. No telling when she would feel the euphoric feeling of saving the life of another again.

Unbeknownst to her Kurenai had been watching the entire exchange with the Iwa shinobi from behind the veil of her genjutsu. _Good job Hinata. I am proud of you. You saved me quite a bit of trouble in dealing with this nin and you didn't even know it._ Kurenai shifted the dead weight of the waterlogged man on her shoulder before leaping off in the direction of the forest

- -

After a long tedious day of mopping up the town; everything was restored to a somewhat stable condition. Sakura, Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru all plopped down onto the green grass savoring the moment of solace. Sasuke slept lightly in the canopy of a high tree away from his teammates below.

Kiba basked lazily on a patch of soft grass as he allowed the warmth of the sun to warm his body. Akamaru snoozed atop his master's stomach allowing the boy to scratch him behind the ears. "Nothing like a good rest after a hard day of work nee Akamaru?" Kiba asked his canine companion. A series of contented barks was Akamaru's reply.

"Don't get too used to it Kiba. This is a mission, one that has many unknown factors. We should make every effort to stay alert and be ready for any situation." Shino said from his meditative position beneath a tall tree.

Kiba waved his hand in a dismissive fashion. "Can it you. I actually want to enjoy my break and not think about dangerous and life threatening crap right now." Kiba said closing his eyes and tuning out Shino's reply.

Seeing that he was not going to get to his thick headed teammate, Shino turned to, surprisingly, Sakura for conversation. "Sakura-san, how is Naruto-san faring? We were unable to determine the extent of any injuries he may have sustained in his scuffle with the Iwa nin."

"Ano, I didn't hear if he received any injuries but he is with Kakashi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei now so he should be fine." Sakura replied.

Shino pondered what the pink haired girl said. _Interesting, he was attacked for no apparent reason by an Iwa shinobi; a skilled one at that. He also sustained no known injuries while combating a more experienced nin. One can only speculate that he is hiding more of his abilities than he would like us to believe._ Shino mused. Discretely the boy ordered one of his scouts to gather information on the enigmatic blonde. _Something here is amiss, and I intend to find out what is going on here._

- -

Within the upper room of Tazuna's home a meeting between jounin and genin was taking place. The blinds were shut and the doors were latched shut. The semi-dark room was sealed. Sound could no longer enter nor exit.

Kakashi and Kurenai stood with their backs towards the window looking down upon their pupils who sat cross legged on the floor before them. A painful silence permeated the air with only the sound of breathing breaking the serenity.

Naruto's one open eye shifted about nervously. Why was he in here? Why was Hinata in here? Did they do something wrong and were being punished. He remembered slipping away early that morning but he didn't think this was about his gallivanting in the woods. Something big was about to take place, he could feel it.

"So…Kakashi-sensei," Naruto started breaking the silence. "Why are we here?" The blonde queried.

Kakashi's visible eye remained focused on the blonde as he replied. "Straight to the point eh? Well this has to do with a lot of things. All of which is a double S-classed village secret." If the widening of both genin's eyes wasn't an indication of their surprise then the quick intake of breath was.

Out of nowhere, a nondescript fly perched on top of the ceiling. Kurenai's eyes followed the bug as it seemed kind of suspicious in a sealed room. _Shino._ She made a mental note of the scout but did not say anything. _I don't have to worry about him rattling off village secrets in the middle of the streets so I can let this go just this once._

Kakashi noticed the scout as well but also said nothing. "Let's start of with you Hinata-san."

She looked to the ground, suddenly finding it more interesting than the masked jounin standing before her. "Hinata-san, how much do you know about the perfect byakugan?" Kakashi asked. The girl struggled to remember what she had heard about the perfect byakugan. _I know otou-sama had me learn something about it…let's see…_

"W-well, the p-perfect byakugan has no known limits in its range of sight. N-nor does it have a-any blind spots whatsoever. Its ability to track and follow movements even exceeds those of the sharingan." Hinata replied as if reciting from a text.

"Yes, exactly." Kakashi said. _This girl knows more about it than we thought she would. Of course it has many more uses but I really don't want to have to explain that with Naruto around. _"Its abilities far exceed that of any doujutsu in the world. You might want to know what that has to do with you, Hinata-san."

"It is the thought of the medical professionals that you are the first Hyuuga in a long time that has the potential to unlock the perfect byakugan." Hinata looked surprised at first but her expression quickly changed to one of disappointment. _Great, another thing that I will fail at before my father's eyes;_ Hinata thought depressed as she stole a glance at her blonde haired crush. He was looking forward pensively and had a deep far away look in his cerulean eyes.

Hinata focused her attention forward when Kakashi began to speak again. "It is for this reason that you were attacked Hinata-san. Iwa had somehow procured a copy of your medical records long ago and found that little tidbit of information. The nin that attacked you was simply a hired hand who knew nothing of the perfect byakugan." Kakashi concluded.

Hinata looked thoughtful in the moments of silence she had been given. She had been warned by her clan members and, especially, her father of attempts to take her life and her kekkei genkai innumerable amounts of times. She knew that every shinobi nation would spill blood to unravel the secrets of the byakugan. Strangely, the thought of having a more advanced form of the byakugan made her feel less secure than it should have. _Only another reason for enemies to target me…_ Hinata thought bitterly.

The Hyuuga heiress repressed a sigh and stole a glance at her pensive crush. He had not spoken much since he had entered the room and a, telling, expression he had told her that he had an inkling as to what he was going to be told. "Kakashi-sensei, up until now you have focused on a secret of the Hyuuga ichizoku but you have also brought Naruto-kun here as well; for what purpose was Naruto-kun's involvement necessary?" Hinata queried; choosing her words wisely.

Kakashi had to applaud the Hyuuga heiress on her skill at wording questions elaborately. _Must be all those lessons in court politics and such…_ Kakashi mused. "The reason…well it is naturally another double S-classed village secret." Kakashi said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly. Did this have something to do with what had happened earlier that morning and with that attack? _Does Kakashi-sensei know of my kekkei genkai?_ Naruto asked himself warily; absentmindedly reaching to adjust the uncomfortably weight in his sleeve. _If he did then why didn't he tell me?_ Naruto fumed but he calmed himself when he realized that he was jumping the gun a bit. It would truly be awkward if he just started yelling at the masked jounin about the information if he really had no clue about it. _There is only one way to find out._ Naruto concluded mentally. "Kakashi-sensei, would this, double S-classed, village secret have anything to do with my kekkei genkai" Naruto queried cunningly; smirking slightly.

The subtle widening of Kakashi's visibly eye and the slight tightening of the man's jaw was all the indication Naruto needed to gather the information he needed. _So it is about that_.Hinata and Kurenai looked on in surprise. The blonde had surprisingly been ahead of the game.

"Why yes, it is." Kakashi replied. "How did you find out about it?" Kakashi asked sternly. Naruto almost flinched at the sudden change in the former ANBU captain's voice.

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. Did he _really_ want to tell the three in the room about his encounter with the Yondaime earlier that morning? _No, I don't think they would believe me anyway._ Naruto opened his eyes after formulating his response. "Ano…it was something that masked shinobi said that tipped me off. He said something about inheriting the bloodline and becoming the heir." Naruto said off-handedly.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed at this new development. _So the situation is even worse than I previously thought. _"Naruto, if that is true what you just said then I don't ever want you to repeat it." Kakashi said seriously. The tone of his voice left no room for discussion. "Do you understand?"

Naruto sensed that there was something that the silver haired man wasn't telling him about the whole situation but Naruto had no complaints about the man's order. "Wakarimashite, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said monotonously.

Pleased with the blonde's compliance; Kakashi made to proceed but was interrupted by Hinata, in a sudden burst of curiosity. "Kakashi-sensei, what exactly does Naruto-kun's kekkei genkai do?" The girl asked. Inwardly she was pleased, pleased that her long time crush would, hopefully, begin to gain strength and recognition through his kekkei genkai.

"Hmm, his kekkei genkai…" Kakashi started with a sigh. "Well it is truly a powerful combination of complete elemental control over the earth _and_ water however that is just a gross underestimation of the true abilities of this bloodline. With proper training it is truly devastating as a single user can master the five elements and it is said that a true master can level a city of about Konoha's size with the same amount of chakra as a bunshin." Both genin's eyes went wide at that piece of information. "This kekkei genkai is feared _greatly_ in the far north." Kakashi said.

"Far…north?" Hinata was confused as any bloodline originating from the far north could only come from two sources. It was either from Iwa no Kuni or Kumo no Kuni and judging by Kakashi's earlier reaction it was probably the former. If that was true then the blonde was truly in danger. Hinata paled considerably at the thought of Naruto being actively _hunted_ by Iwa.

"Hai, the Namikaze ichizoku are the most powerful and influential ichizoku in the mountains of Iwa. They are a deeply religious and traditionalistic clan that is known to have an intense connection with the spirit realm. They have been without an heir for almost thirteen years and have been very disorganized as of late. But now that they have found Naruto and he is the heir…The priorities of this mission have changed yet again."

"Naruto, Hinata," Kakashi said looking at both of them. "You are to not leave the sight of each other except for using the bathroom and sleeping." Kakashi said.

The surprised look upon the two genin's faces was priceless. Hinata was blushed a crimson red at the implications but Naruto was watching the jounin incredulously. _What is that man thinking?_ Naruto asked himself.

"Don't get any funny ideas," the voice of Kurenai was stern as she knew the purpose of the masked jounin's tactics. "These are measures taken for your protection. We have the possibility of a potentially volatile situation of either of you are to get captured. As of now I will be training the two of you to defend yourselves. We cannot believe that those were the only attacks that will come and we will prepare for the case of more powerful foes as well." The crimson eyed woman said, receiving nods of understanding. _Good, both of them understand._ Kurenai thought relieved. _I thought that I would have to explain the importance of our decision to Naruto but he understands it seems._

Kakashi sat back and appraised the two shinobi in front of him. _This should make protecting both of them easier, but protecting Tazuna-san, Naruto, and Hinata-san will make this mission that much more difficult._ "Well if that is all then Kurenai-sensei, have them train in chakra control and stealth until you are satisfied with their progress. I will train the others as well." Kakashi said as he removed the barrier and exited the room. Hinata and Naruto silently got up as well and followed Kurenai as she wordlessly left the room.

- -

Darkness had fallen by the time Kakashi returned to the group. He had found Sasuke and Kiba engaged in a light taijutsu spar while he found Shino listening intently to one of his bugs. No doubt absorbing all of the information his scout had gleaned from his personal information gathering mission.

Kakashi looked for his one female student but was surprised to find that she was not there. Since Shino was the only one nearby, Kakashi decided to ask the dark haired bug user of his student's whereabouts.

"Sakura-san? She was asked to assist Tsunami-san in the gathering of items for tonight's feast." Shino replied. Kakashi nodded in understanding.

"I see; arigatou Shino-san." The masked jounin said before turning to the sparring duo. "Kiba-san, Sasuke, let's go we have training to accomplish." Kakashi ordered.

Said duo stopped mid step and gathered around the masked jounin. Kiba began ranting about how he would have beaten the stoic Uchiha. Said Uchiha just huffed arrogantly and turned to his sensei.

"Now that I have your attention, we are going to do some simple chakra exercises." Kakashi said. The three shinobi looked on as Kakashi walked up the side of the tree. Slowly but surely he made it to the lowest limb of the tree and hung upside down glancing down at the three shinobi apprentices. "This is what you will be doing until you can properly utilize your chakra to stick to the tree and make it to the top." Kakashi tossed three kunai to the feet of the three genin. "Use those to mark your progress; although I don't expect any of you to get that far before we have to turn in. Do your best though." Kakashi said before slowly making his way down.

He hobbled off towards Tazuna's house leaving the three genin to their training. _All of you get as strong as you can; I have a feeling that you will need all the strength that you can get._ Kakashi thought somberly as he silently slipped into the old man's house, ready for a, well-deserved, rest.

- -

"Again!" Kurenai's voice pierced through the darkness as the two shinobi before her struggled with the advanced chakra control exercise she had subjected them to. She had them twirl two leaves between their hands in opposite directions using chakra. While normally this kind of chakra control exercise would not be used, she had felt the need to dive straight into the advanced chakra control exercises.

Naruto leapt aside with a yell as one of his leaves shot out of his control and sliced a thin gash in his arm. The blonde was having a considerable amount of trouble keeping one of his leaves from slicing his hands up. One would always either be too fast or too slow and normally the fast one was one that injured him. For some reason he just could not even his chakra out in a way that would keep the leaves spinning at the same speed.

_Kuso!_ Naruto inwardly cursed as another leaf rocketed off narrowly missing his uninjured eye. Kurenai caught sight of the leaf and saw how far it sunk into the wood of a nearby tree.

_He's using way too much chakra._ Kurenai thought as she saw him launch off another deadly leaf into the canopy of the dense trees. "Naruto, don't use so much chakra." Kurenai suggested.

The blonde didn't reply; he just cut his chakra usage by seventy-five percent. The results were almost instantaneous. His chakra was almost immediately controllable and the leaves were spinning steadily in opposite directions. Kurenai smiled in satisfaction at the blonde's achievement. "Good, now slowly force more chakra into the leaves until you can control them at the speed you did earlier." Kurenai said before stepping off to see her pupil.

She stepped through the underbrush when she came to where Hinata was practicing the technique. She was not surprised to find out that the girl had mastered the technique. She had also begun to incorporate other devices into her training. Currently she had two leaves spinning in opposite directions while she had two small rocks orbiting the spinning leaves. The girl's concentration was palpable as sweat dripped onto the grass below. _I had no doubt that you would master this quickly Hinata…but your growth is truly impressive. Continue on that path Hinata and you will be strong._

Without a word, Kurenai went back to where Naruto was training. What she found astounded her. Within minutes the boy had picked up on how to fully test the limits of his control. The two leaves between his hands were spinning so fast they were a blur. A slight shimmer of condensed chakra around the boy was a slight indication of the amount of chakra he was outputting. "That is enough Naruto. We are going to work on something else." The blonde instantly complied and eased the chakra out of the spinning leaves before they floated to the ground harmlessly.

His hands were slightly trembling from the amount of chakra he had been forcing through them as he came to sit before the crimson eyed jounin. "Okay, we are going to have you do the tree walking exercise. It is one of the most basic chakra control exercises. What you have to do is…" Kurenai went and explained the tree walking exercise to the blonde haired Uzumaki heir.

"So all I have to do is use my chakra to stick to the tree and get to the top, right?" The blonde asked.

"Right, do your best but don't push yourself too hard; we are going to be doing this tomorrow as well." Kurenai instructed.

The blonde nodded before drawing a kunai and dashing up the tree. An ethereal blue glow of chakra consumed his feet as he took his first few steps up the tree. He got surprisingly far, half way up to the first limb, before his chakra output took a dive and he slipped off.

The blonde hastily made a strike mark on the tree before he flipped in the air. As soon as his feet touched the ground he sprinted off and took to the tree again. He got only a few steps further before his chakra fluctuated again.

Kurenai smiled at the blonde's progress. _He should be fine._ Kurenai thought before going back to her lavender eyed pupil. She was still concentrating just as hard on the exercise but was expending far less chakra to get the same results. "That is good Hinata, but there is something else that I have to teach you." The crimson eyed jounin said.

The girl, startled, had hastily dropped her control letting the spinning projectiles fly off in all directions narrowly missing Kurenai. "G-gomen, Kurenai-sensei." The girl said timidly.

"It's all right; now we are going to look into chakra suppression. It is a very useful skill to have as it can help you escape a pursuer or more effectively set up an ambush." Kurenai explained.

"Now, you subconsciously suppress your chakra so to consciously do it all you have to do is cut off all excess chakra going to the limbs and other organs. That includes your kekkei genkai. The byakugan uses just enough chakra to be able to be sensed by those who have been trained in chakra detection." Kurenai said.

Hinata nodded in understanding. _It sounds simple but can I do it?_ The lavender eyed heiress asked herself as she attempted to do what her sensei instructed. She closed her eyes and visualized cutting off excess chakra use to all of her organs. When she felt that she had done so she opened her eyes to see Kurenai smiling.

"Good, you have done it Hinata. I knew you could." The girl blushed at the praise. "But, the enemy will not give you enough time to concentrate and suppress your chakra. You have to be able to cut your chakra off in an instant and cloak your presence with your surroundings. I will teach you all of this and more but for now practice this." Kurenai said watching the girl for about an hour before going back to Naruto. _I have faith in you Hinata, do your best._

Up in the canopy of a tall tree Naruto cursed as his chakra once again failed him. He saw the ground quickly approaching but did nothing to cushion his fall. There was no point in it after all.

The blonde hit the grassy forest floor with a heavy thud and crunch. Bones shattered on impact and he could feel blood seeping from a wound on his head yet he did not care about the injuries. He crawled to the base of a tall tree and propped himself up trees as he waited for the Kyuubi to do his job in healing the his injuries.

A light smoke sizzled from the wounds as they closed. He could feel his bones joining back together and he could feel them becoming stronger and stronger with each passing second. He heard a slight rustle to his side and he wiped away the blood from his head as he saw Kurenai emerge from the underbrush.

She saw the boy's condition and, despite his efforts, could still see the blood on his hands and in his hair. "Naruto did you just fall from the top of the tree?" Kurenai asked worriedly.

"…Yes." The blonde replied tiredly. "But don't worry; fuzzy will take care of everything." The blonde heard a defiant growl from within the recesses of his mind but he disregarded it as he got back up to go back up the tree.

Kurenai put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. He turned and glared at the woman as best he could with one eye. She just smiled. "Naruto, I believe that it is time to call it quits. We have all of tomorrow to get the skill down. I have no doubt that you will have it by then." The woman reassured softly.

Naruto couldn't help but soften his gaze and comply with the order. He sighed and gathered his supplies. He looked up at the tree and the marks going up its face into the high canopy above. _I will conquer you._ Naruto thought before he spun in his heel and followed the jounin through the underbrush.

They found Hinata practicing suppressing her chakra from various intensities. She was currently trying to suppress her chakra from a battle ready level to almost non existent. There were still a few strands of chakra that just refused to bend to her will. She willfully tried to force her chakra to obey but like the untamable force it was it backfired in a tremendous release of blue energy from her hands. She yelped as pain coursed through her palms like stabbing needles.

She looked away in shame as her sensei came running to her aid. _Why do I have to be so weak? Otou-sama would probably disown me for such a lapse in my own chakra control._ The girl went on and on berating herself in her mind however; Naruto could see exactly what she was doing through her eyes.

_She's beating herself up over something so minor. She must have been reprimanded for small things like that before…_ Naruto deduced as Kurenai helped the girl up and ushered her out of the woods to the home of the old bridge builder.

Naruto watched them leave and turned to resume his training but was surprised to come face to face with the jounin that had just left. "Nani?"

She had a calm, knowing, smirk on her face. "Thought that you could sneak in some more practice eh?" The boy's eyes widened like saucers. He had been caught.

"Well…you see…dammit…" Naruto stuttered before he resignedly allowed the jounin to march him out of the forest.

"I know you have an insatiable desire to get stronger but you also need to rest and supplication. Your body can only take so much. Not only that, but the Kyuubi cannot work on your body if there is nothing there to repair it with." Kurenai said.

The boy growled in annoyance but did not say anything. "No more late night escapades either. We don't want the only Uzumaki in Konoha for almost thirteen years getting killed or abducted now would we?" Kurenai said as she led the genin out of the forest to Tazuna's house. _We have to make sure these two survive this mission. It would be a grievous blow to Konoha if either is lost._ Kurenai's thoughts wandered to the amazing potential the two contained. _Yes, those two could become an extremely valuable asset to Konoha, and I intend to make it happen._ Kurenai vowed; she was already getting excited about the next day's lesson.

- -

A/N: Gomen nasai minna. I kinda got caught up on the road of life if you know what I mean

Well there is really no excuse for the extreme tardiness of this chapter other than my lack of access to my computer. I actually like how this chapter turned out and am actually looking forward the next chapter so expect it to come out soon. Well if that is all the matters of business I must attend to then I will take my leave.

Ja ne.


	6. Chapter V: Prequel to Eternity

Brotherhood

_**Brotherhood**_

Summary: They fought like brothers, they bickered like brothers, and they defended each other as brothers, now they must prove how strong the bond of a brother really is. The brotherhood of Konoha of this generation must persevere and embrace the will of fire.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto® Kishimoto-sama does!

_**Chapter 5: Prequel to Eternity**_

The day was quickly drawing near that Zabuza would make his move. Kakashi and Kurenai drilled their genin into the shinobi arts. The six genin learned chakra control, stealth, and strength enhancement training to give them a fighting chance on the battlefield. The two jounin were hoping, praying that their efforts would keep their students out of an early grave. Said students worked tirelessly night and day to master the techniques presented to them. Pushing themselves past their limits, they broke past their mental barriers and excelled in their art: the art of the shinobi. Some of them were nervous about the upcoming encounter, unsure about their abilities, some of them were anxious, anticipating the fight to come, and some just didn't give a damn.

Seventeen days had passed since arriving at Tazuna's home. On shifting duties, the genin would supervise the bridge with either Kakashi or Kurenai with them. The bridge construction was progressing at a steady clip but the inevitable confrontation with Zabuza loomed overhead like a violent storm approaching. The anxious anticipation put everyone on edge.

- -

Kurenai sighed. She had never particularly liked long-term escort or bodyguard missions. They were incredibly boring and dull. Her mind wandered to her silver haired comrade who was more than likely reading the perverted smut known as _Icha Icha Paradise._ The crimson-eyed jounin's face contorted into a scowl but she immediately got a hold of her emotions. _I wonder if I should take a leaf out of Kakashi's book and read. It seems to keep him occupied…_ Mentally hearing the perverted giggles was enough for her to kill the thought and bury it. _Damn one-eyed pervert._ Kurenai shook the thought out of her mind as she sat down cross-legged on an empty pallet as she observed her two charges out on the bridge: Naruto and Hinata.

Secretly she was proud of the two. Just the thought of them made her heart swell with pride. They had forged quite a strong bond between each other as they kept an eye out for one another. However, the developments had not stopped at simple shinobi arts. The two went out to help each other in just about everything; even if it usually ended up in an embarrassing or compromising situation; due mostly to Naruto's efforts. Even still, the two built each other up by offering tips of advice where necessary and even sharing techniques between themselves.

It seemed like over the course of the days Hinata began to become accustomed to Naruto's presence enough not to stutter unless thoroughly embarrassed. The girl had activated her perfected byakugan and had begun training tirelessly since she had learned of its existence. Within days, her jyuuken form had been polished to near perfection. Her movements became swift and fluid with precise lethality.

Even with the awakening of her true kekkei genkai, it was only by the incessant encouragement by her blonde haired crush that she was able to push herself past her self-imposed limitations and achieve her true potential. Kurenai's thoughts shifted to the blonde. _He is truly an enigma. One who can face the world and all its cruelty and still have enough in himself to help someone else out._ Kurenai mused. _He will make a fine leader one day; just needs a bit of field experience under his belt and he will be a force to be reckoned with._ The crimson-eyed jounin thought. Vaguely she thought she heard a whisper say, "That will change soon enough."

- -

Hinata lashed out furiously. Her strike was deadly and accurate, as the hapless clone she struck had no time to register its impending doom. Without breaking her motion, she pivoted on her right heel and delivered a vicious roundhouse kick to another clone in her striking range. Both clones erupted into a plume of smoke and the Hyuuga heiress returned to her jyuuken stance with an inaudible exhale of breath.

Naruto who had been observing the girl's progress applauded her with gusto, much to the girl's embarrassment. "You did great Hinata-chan! With a performance like that you will kick so much ass!" The boy's endless sapphire orbs shone brightly with praise for the Hyuuga heiress.

Said Hyuuga heiress' cheeks burned crimson at the boy's praise. She deactivated her kekkei genkai and sat down beside him with a dejected sigh. "No not yet, I still have to expand my chakra reserves and they seem to have hit a glass ceiling for now."

"Naw, you'll get it," the blonde haired shinobi said, effectively dissipating the pale-eyed girls' fear. The boy stood up and enthusiastically pulled out a small scroll from within his pocket. "Now, let's work on some water manipulation…"

- -

Sakura barely blocked a vicious kick from Sasuke as he attacked unrelentingly. Her bones, still smarting from her encounter with Zabuza were protesting from the sheer pressure of the blow. However, it did not last long as the raven-haired shinobi disappeared from her field of vision for a moment. _Nani!_ The pink haired girl only had time to register this brief thought before her legs were swept out from under her and she was reacquainted with the earth below.

Her vision swirled and she grunted slightly before attempting to get back up. She didn't get far as Sasuke was on top of her in an instant, his knee in her back and his kunai at her throat. She sighed in resignation as she conceded the match. Sasuke pushed off of her and stormed off scowling. Sakura had a decent idea why too. _I'm too weak; there is no possible way that I could compare to Sasuke-kun._ The pink haired girl got up and went to the tree to reflect on the match that probably took less than thirty seconds.

_I'm sure that he went to find a more decent challenge._ Somehow, this thought stung a little bit more than any time Sasuke had rejected her. It made her feel…insignificant. Like the Uchiha had casually brushed her off as a total waste of time. The girl then burned with righteous fury. _No, Sasuke-kun would never throw me away like garbage, still…_ The girl's thoughts were cut off by the crunching of leaves underfoot. She looked up to see Kakashi leaning on one of the trees. He looked…displeased.

"Sakura," The silver haired jounin addressed; the icy tone of his voice made her flinch under its coldness. "I saw the sparring session between you and Sasuke." The girl's eyes lowered dejectedly. "The performance I saw…was abysmal. Seventeen seconds." The girl's eyes widened in disbelief; _it only took that long?_ "That is how long it took Sasuke to beat you."

Tears began to well up within the girl's eyes. "B-but I didn't want to hurt him Kakashi-sensei!" She began to sob openly in her hands.

"Sakura, by _not_ trying your hardest not only do you hinder your own development but you also hinder your teammates. Say you and Sasuke were required to fend off a group of shinobi. If he does not know your skills because you decided to coddle him during training and you pull something dangerous you could end up hurting him or yourself; especially if you are not fully prepared to utilize the technique." Kakashi explained. _Maybe I should properly start training these two together... It would probably be mutually beneficial for them._ The silver haired jounin mused.

"Besides, I get the tiniest inkling that Sasuke would respect you more if you prove to be a challenge to him." With that, the silver haired jounin disappeared in a swirl of leaves leaving the pink haired kunoichi to contemplate his words.

- -

Naruto stared at the short crystalline dagger in his hand, mesmerized, entranced at the way the blade reflected the dim silver light of the waning moon. He was sitting in a grassy clearing of the utmost serenity. The place was far away enough from the village as to not be disturbed by the bustling city noise but was close enough to the ocean that the soothing sound of waves danced on the gentle breeze.

The blonde tucked a strand of wind blown hair behind his ear as he looked up into the pitch-black sky. _It is time._ Naruto drew a scroll from his kunai holster and spread it out on the dewy grass beneath him. Using the light of the waning moon Naruto began to copy the round ring of kanji in the scroll onto the back of his left hand with the crystalline dagger.

The blonde hissed in pain as the blade entered the skin, like fire his wounds burned in agony. Blood ran freely down the injured appendage. Naruto clenched his fist and eye shut as he slashed through a vein causing more blood to drip into his lap. Then it was over. The blonde laid the dagger in the grass with bloody, trembling hands. He brought his hands together in the seal for o-hitsuji and began to blaze through a long chain of hand seals mumbling each as he sped through them. Naruto halted on hebi and then resumed channeling abhorrent amounts of chakra this time. _Come on Uzumaki, focus!_ The blonde grit his teeth as his injured hand began to go numb but he ignored it. He stopped and extended his hands in the seal for the kage bunshin. "Namikaze hijutsu no ougi: yomigaeri no ten!" There was a flash of green light and excruciating pain exploded throughout Naruto's body. The last thing Naruto saw before being knocked unconscious was a veil of the lightest emerald over his eyes.

- -

Kakashi suppressed a sigh as he leaned against the wall. Kurenai was pacing throughout the room while Hinata slept fitfully on her futon. The crimson-eyed jounin turned to glare at her silver haired counterpart. "Can't you do something except just sitting there? Naruto has disappeared from under our noses _again._" The silver haired jounin didn't reply. Kurenai's glare intensified before she stormed out of the room.

- -

Mornings in Nami no Kuni were foggy and cold. A sudden draft sent a chill down Naruto's spine and he sat up in a flash only to be face to face with that of a pretty girl's. Heat began to rise to his face and he could feel himself blushing madly at the close proximity. The startled girl leapt back with a shriek and a basket of green herbs flew into the air.

Without thought the blonde haired shinobi leapt up, caught the falling basket in one hand, and with the other caught the woman's wrist. The girl expected to be face first in the grass but was surprised at the contact made by the blonde haired boy. _He's fast._

"Are you okay, onee-chan?" The blonde's blue eyes shone with genuine concern. The girl began to blush again as the blonde helped her back up.

"I am fine, thanks for asking." The brunette brushed a lock of hair behind her ear before sitting down on a nearby rock. "Who are you? What are you doing out here…"

"Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto." The blonde just sat there on the ground, his eyes clouded over as he remembered the burning pain he had felt the previous night. He shivered at the recollection. "I was receiving the blessing of my clan and accepting my role as heir."

The young brunette seemed shocked. _He is part of a clan; he must have cursed blood just like me…_ The young brunette's thoughts did not invade her conversation in the least. "You must be very strong then; are you a shinobi?"

"Yes, but I am not too strong…" The blonde said quietly and honestly.

The atmosphere seemed to grow uncomfortable very quickly after that. The brunette stole a glance at the blonde and briefly caught sight of his eyes. _Such pain and hurt in his eyes…_ "O-oh, I see… Do you have a precious person?"

Naruto's eyes snapped to the girl in confusion. _Precious person?_ "What?"

The girl just smiled. "You know; someone who you would gladly die for to protect." The girl explained.

Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion as he tried to think of someone that fit that description. _Well there is Iruka-sensei and jii-chan. Oh, Ichiraku-jii, Ayame nee-chan, and Konohamaru-kun too! Now that I think about it Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme, and Kakashi-sensei are as well._ The blonde reveled in his newfound satisfaction at the discovery but was still confused by the meaning behind the girl's question.

"I do but what does it matter?"

The brunette swung her legs off of the rock and took a few tentative steps towards the blonde. Said blonde enraptured by her every movement. "Truly strong people are those who fight to protect the ones they love." The girl said with a smile.

Naruto's eyes widened in understanding; _that makes an incredible amount of sense. Someone who is fighting to protect someone will push himself further than someone fighting just for the sake of it._

The girl took a few steps towards the edge of the clearing gripping the basket in her hands. She turned to the blonde and smiled. "Thank you for your time Naruto-kun it was truly enjoyable." The girl said before turning to walk away.

"Matte!" Naruto leapt up from his seat and latched onto the girl's arm; she turned around blushing slightly. Naruto looked into the girls brown orbs almost becoming lost in them. He suddenly realized what he was doing and looked away, blushing. "A-ano…I just r-realize that I didn't get your name." The blonde stuttered.

The girl's blush began to intensify and she brought her other hand to her mouth, surprised. "Oh, where are my manners! I am Haku." The girl said cutely. Naruto looked away and let the girl's hand go. He felt the heat rising to his cheeks and was sure that his complexion could now rival Hinata's. "Another thing, I am actually a guy. I hope we will meet again." _We will sooner than you think._ The effeminate male said before dashing off into the woods leaving a dumbfounded Naruto in the clearing.

The blonde's mind was a mish-mash of liquefied goop from the words of the, now identified, guy he had been talking to. _What the hell…_ Naruto's mind effectively shut down and he passed out to chilling nightmares of effeminate looking males with sweet voices.

- -

Sasuke hung upside down from the tree limb. His eyes were closed, as he seemed to be meditating. Suddenly a twig snapped and his eyes shot open as he scanned for the source. He found it directly below, staring up at him with sparkling emerald green eyes. _Sakura._ "What do you want, Sakura?"

The girl almost shrunk away from his voice but quickly steeled her resolve. "Sasuke-kun…Train me." The girl's voice was so saturated with confidence and determination that Sasuke almost fell from his perch. That was the last thing he expected the girl to request of him. He was halfway inclined to say no but then he truly pondered it. _If I were to train her then I will be able to perfect my technique to a higher degree. Not only that but I will gain a more powerful teammate. That will kill two birds with one stone._

The Uchiha heir dropped down from his perch, never taking his obsidian eyes off of the girl. "Do you really want to train under me?" The boy's voice was emotionless, vaguely reminiscent of his former brother. Sasuke inwardly cringed; he was going to have to change that _immediately._

The girl only nodded a flame of determination blazed like an inferno in her eyes, she did not back down and Sasuke could literally feel the intensity of her desire. "Good, now come at me with all you've got." The two fell into taijutsu stances and began their deadly dance, just the two of them.

- -

"Naruto-kun, Naruto-kun, wake up." The blonde groggily cracked his eyes open. What happened? Naruto groaned and rolled onto his stomach trying to ignore the voice. Suddenly a painful jab to his back got his attention. He yelped and leapt to his feet glaring at the source of his discomfort. There he found Hinata giggling to herself at his expense.

"What was that for Hinata-chan?" The blonde rubbed the sore spot on his backside now that it started to throb slightly. The girl suddenly stopped giggling. Instead a furious glare burned in her eyes. Naruto's danger sense went ballistic as the girl drew near to him.

"Naruto-kun, didn't Kurenai-sensei specifically say that we were not to leave each other's presence?" The blonde recalled the crimson-eyed jounin's words and nodded. Hinata continued. "Then why did you leave me? I thought that something happened to you when I went to look for you and you weren't there." The girl's voice was quiet when she said those words. Naruto looked away.

"So for causing me to worry, we are going to 'practice'." Naruto paled considerably as the once timid Hyuuga heir came rushing towards him with the Byakugan blazing. The blonde tried to dodge unsuccessfully and a high-powered jyuuken strike paralyzed both of his legs. The Hyuuga heiress grinned madly and began her punishment game. The anguished cries of one Uzumaki Naruto rang out of the forest for hours and hours on end.

- -

Dinner was a normal routine albeit slightly more quiet as both Sakura and Naruto were too battered and bruised to do much talking; the former more so than the latter. Sakura groaned as she leaned back painfully in her chair. _I think I pushed myself too hard…but it was worth it._ Sakura smirked as she recalled her little training session with Sasuke.

_Sakura was clearly at a disadvantage in all aspects; taijutsu, ninjutsu, overall speed and agility, physical strength and flexibility all were proved superior by the Uchiha heir. The only things that seemed to be going for her were her natural cunning and chakra control. She was really feeling the superior strength and taijutsu prowess of Sasuke as she once again became reacquainted with the forest floor below her. "Again, get up Sakura."_

_The boy's voice was focused and leveled. His ebon eyes traced her every move. Sakura rose and got into a taijutsu stance; rubbing a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth. If she couldn't beat the Uchiha in direct combat, then she would have to try some other means. Sakura charged Sasuke and produced three bunshin at her side, without seals. The Uchiha was unprepared for the assault and never noticed when Sakura switched places with a bunshin hiding high above the fighting ground in the trees._

_Sakura silently breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Sasuke murder he clones in quick methodical manner. Now, it's time for the good stuff. Sakura quickly made another bunshin on a tree limb behind Sasuke. I hope this works. Sakura produced two kunai from her holster. She steeled her resolve and stared down her target. Her mindless stupidity was quashed and her reluctance vanished. I will be a kunoichi worthy of Sasuke-kun's respect. With confidence in her plan Sakura pushed off the tree limb._

_The raven-haired shinobi only had a moment to decipher the shadow that was growing around him before his body kicked into action. He whipped out two kunai and slashed at where his teammate was barreling down from the sky only to hit…air? He was unprepared for a side tackle and the two shinobi rolled on the forest floor from the momentum. Sakura pinned the raven haired Uchiha beneath her and brought the two kunai to her teammate's neck. Her emerald eyes blazed in triumph as they gazed into Sasuke's bewildered onyx orbs. "I win."_

- -

Sakura glanced at her onyx-eyed crush and giggled silently to herself as the memory replayed itself in her mind repeatedly. _I will never let him live that defeat down, never._

The blonde silently slipped his food into his mouth, his body aching and twitching the entire way. When his chopsticks fell from his trembling hand and a steaming hot piece of fish fell onto his lap scalding the flesh the blonde had decided that he had had enough. _I think Hinata-chan went a bit overboard. _Naruto cleaned up the mess and quietly excused himself.

Hinata watched the boy's actions out of the corner of her eye. She felt guilty, as it seemed that the injuries that she had inflicted upon him were what caused him the discomfort. _Naruto-kun…_ The Hyuuga heiress excused herself soon after and followed the blonde out. No one commented on the absence of the duo.

- -

Hinata silently crept up the stairs to the boy's bedroom. Her small form cast dark shadows against the wall. She slid the door open slightly and froze with dread at what she saw. A tall dark clad man stood atop Naruto's prone unconscious form. Hinata slapped her hand across her mouth to keep from revealing her presence to the enemy._ Calm down Hinata. Remember your training. Focus your mind and steel your resolve._ The Hyuuga heiress recalled some words of advice given from her father.

The dark clad man hefted Naruto onto his shoulder and leapt out the open window, his cloak flapping in the wind. Hinata burst into the room and watched him disappear into the dense foliage. She waited for a few seconds before vaulting out herself, the chilly night air whipped at her face as she descended. The agile kunoichi landed gracefully, soundlessly on the ground before tearing after the man with her kekkei genkai blazing. The man would not get away; she would make sure of it.

- -

Hinata followed the man into the city where she used the cover of the big building's shadow to keep out of sight. He dashed straight through making him an easy target for Hinata to track. The girl sprinted out from behind a building and dove for cover in an alley. The man stopped and glanced back as if hearing something. Hinata's heart raced as she forced her chakra towards her core in hopes of masking her presence.

It worked, or it seemed to have worked. The man cast wary glances back towards her position before dashing off towards the unfinished bridge. Hinata exhaled heavily, a breath she did not know she was holding and leaned against the cool bricks of the building. She watched the man disappear from her telescopic vision before taking chase knowing that the man could not see her.

_That was a close call. I cannot afford for a slip up like that to occur again. If I do…_ The Hyuuga heiress dreaded what the abductors could do to Naruto if they discovered her. Hinata made her way through the darkness even more carefully and leapt atop the last building in the city. It overlooked the incomplete bridge, Hinata could see the man at the far end of the bridge, and he was not alone.

Fear gripped the kunoichi's heart as she spied another man sitting in a small tent. The tent seemed to have room for four. Hinata sharpened her vision and gasped suddenly. _These kidnappers are with those guys who attacked Naruto-kun and me before!_ Hinata began to panic when she recalled how difficult it was to incapacitate the man before.

_Wait a minute. I am a lot stronger now than I was before. I should be able to take care of these guys. _Hinata told herself. She began to calm before an uneasy doubt began to filter into her mind. _But what if I fail…_ Her voice whispered. _NO! I cannot fail, for Naruto-kun._ The girl quashed the doubt and began running possible strategies in her mind before deciding on a single simple plan. _I will have to extract Naruto when they rotate the watch. That is my best course of action._ The girl steeled herself and peered out over the bridge as the fog rolled in. Hinata was up for one long night.

- -

Black darkness covered Naruto in a shroud and Naruto once again found himself weightless and floating through the frigid abyss. _Oh no not again!_ The blonde began flailing in the nothingness as he, once again, found himself hurtling down through the blue turned red maw of darkness.

He landed as he did the first time, with a painful, burning heavy thud. Naruto groaned as bright hot pain flashed in front of his eyes dazzling his already befuddled senses. He turned to his side and had to keep himself from crying out in pain as it felt as if someone were taking great hooks and prying his flesh from his bone.

Naruto blearily made out the form of many deceased bodies and the candles that lay scattered through the expanse. Soon a clunking of boots on the floor of the cavern caught Naruto's attention and he fell back on his back to get a better look and winced at the pain of thousands of burning needles stabbing him repeatedly.

He felt a finger tap his forehead and the pain melted away. Naruto sat up groggily and shook his head to clear the stars. He turned to the former Yondaime and glared. "Does it have to feel like I am being torn limb from limb every time I come down here?" Naruto said jokingly

Minato made no indication that he was joking if the stern expression on his face was any clue. "Naruto, do you have any idea how much danger you are in?"

The smaller blonde looked at Minato skeptically. What was the man talking about? "What do you mean Minato-san? I just fell asleep in the room, how is that dangerous?"

Minato just answered flatly. "You were captured by Iwa Naruto." The smaller blonde's eyebrows shot into his hairline at the news.

"What?" the blonde yelled. _How the hell did I not notice that?_

Minato began pacing as Naruto got to his feet. "I know. I am trying to figure out a way you can get out of this successfully. There is no doubt in my mind that there is another from Namikaze ichizoku there to counter your techniques in the instance that you would be able to utilize them."

Naruto began to panic. That just about eliminated the entire repertoire of techniques he had built up over the past two weeks. He began to skim through his short list of techniques he had mastered back when he was in the academy and came to an obvious conclusion. "I have absolutely no techniques that will help me in this situation do I?"

The man slightly shook his head. "Unfortunately, you are right." Naruto hung his head dejectedly. Did the man have to be so blunt about it? "But fortunately for you help is already here." Naruto scowled darkly. Help, he didn't want help he just wanted to get out of the situation and back to his team. The mere idea of help coming made him relive a plethora of unwanted memories. Naruto absentmindedly began muttering things under his breath.

This did not go unnoticed by Minato. "Naruto," the younger blonde turned away and stalked off.

"I don't want any help." Naruto said; finality laced throughout his voice. "All it has ever done is made things worse." Naruto whispered to himself. _I'll get out of this. I don't need anyone getting involved._ With that the younger blonde was ejected from the mindscape and he returned to the empty abyss mulling over his possible courses of action and running various scenarios through his mind. He was determined to return to the safety of his team and he would do it without the aid of anyone if he could help it.

- -

Hinata had crept up to one of the large stacks of crates that lay scattered about the bridge. She was concealed by darkness and the thick chilling fog that seemed to bubble, roil, and flow over from the edge of the bridge. It reminded her of the encounter with Zabuza and she shuddered involuntarily.

She had been camping out in the same position for over two hours. Her eyes flared with burning pain and it was a sign of straining her byakugan for an extended period of time. She had resorted to activating her byakugan for five minutes with a two-minute reprieve. The kunoichi also had to tuck away into the shadows when she heard her teammates and sensei call for her and Naruto. She felt somewhat guilty for not going to them but she thought it more prudent to stay hidden for now.

Hinata shivered as a slight gust of wind tore through her loose clothing. _I wish I brought my jacket with me… It's freezing!_ The girl wrapped her arms around her body before activating her byakugan once again. The girl winced as a bright hammer of pain pounded against her head. She could faintly feel her eyes becoming numb and began to feel the side effects of the strain. Her vision swirled and chaotic flashes of light dazzled her senses. The world became distorted and dim. Hinata had to force her dinner down more than one time. It was not pleasant. The Hyuuga heiress placed her head on the soothingly cool steel crate that lay between her and the men on the far side of the bridge. One thing was for certain. If the guards didn't shift soon Hinata would be in no condition to face them. With that Hinata once again shut off her byakugan and rested her eyes. The weird sensations left her and she faintly breathed a sigh of relief. _I think I am going to have to learn some techniques that are independent of my byakugan._ The girl mused.

The time came again for Hinata to activate her kekkei genkai once again and the pain assailed her senses but at the very corner of her swirling vision she saw the man get up and duck inside the tent. Now was her chance! Hinata deactivated her byakugan once again and began dashing across the bridge using her chakra as a cushion to silence her steps. Her heart rate sped up considerably when she realized exactly what she was doing but she didn't care. She was _going_ to rescue Naruto; however she was unaware that Naruto had other plans.

Hinata got close enough to be able to see the outline of the tent in the dense fog. She reactivated her byakugan and saw the man who was the relief step outside the tent. It was at that moment that all hell broke loose. Suddenly a violent plume of smoke engulfed the bridge and further obscured her vision. Hinata had to dive to the floor to avoid three smoking _things _that appeared in front of her. Her heart swelled in her chest when hundreds of those smoking _things_ turned out to be her blonde haired crush. She could barely contain her delighted squeak. _Naruto-kun!_

The man in the tent was less than enthused. "What the _hell!?_ Get im' offa me!" The man screamed as several of the blonde bodies crushed him against the walls of the tent. He was stuck. The man flailed and wriggled about unsuccessfully as he tried to tear his way out.

The bleary-eyed relief barely registered his partners cries before Hinata came barreling into him with a jyuuken strike to the throat. He was unconscious before his body hit the floor. Hinata smirked as she screeched to a halt beside the tent. She could see Naruto's wrapped legs sticking out from under the expanded flaps.

"Naruto-kun!" The lavender-eyed girl gasped as she knelt down to pull the boy out from beneath the massive pile of bodies.

Naruto's eyes locked onto the girl kneeling beside him with amazement. "Hinata-chan, what are you doing here?"

"I'm trying to get you out of here, Naruto-kun." The girl replied as she sliced the bindings away.

Naruto smiled gratuitously. "Arigatou, Hinata-chan." Hinata blushed slightly as she helped the boy up.

"Come on we have to get out of here everybody is looking for us." The lavender eyed Hyuuga heiress lead them down the bridge before the faint sound of boat engines caught her ear. Naruto stopped as too as if he had heard it as well. He turned to her and with voiceless communication Hinata instinctively knew what was necessary. She once again activated her byakugan and a searing, burning, numbing pain pulsated within her head as if someone had taken a jackhammer to her skull. The girl dropped to her knees in pain before she shut off her kekkei genkai. Faintly she heard Naruto yelling her name. "N-Naruto-kun…i-it's Gatoh's men hundreds of them; He's here!" The girl managed to squeak out before she passed out from pain.

Naruto scooped the girl up in his arms and tore off towards the city. He had to raise the alarm. During all the chaos and confusion Naruto not once felt as if being rescued by the Hyuuga heiress was threatening to him. Unbeknownst to him it sparked a change in his thoughts that Minato secretly began to encourage and add gasoline to the fire. Naruto was going to need help to achieve the goals he had set for himself in life and Minato was going to make sure he got all the help he needed.

_- -_

Sakura and Shino indignantly stalked through the city as they looked for their missing teammates. _God dammit, I swear when I get my hands on that insufferable brat I will rip his ass to bloody ribbons._ Inner Sakura acquiesced grinning madly and sharpening mental butcher's knives as she imagined shredding Naruto into a heap of unidentifiable flesh.

Shino was having different thoughts however. _It shouldn't be this difficult to track them down. Hinata definitely does not have the skills to evade my kikaichu for this long. Naruto however…I wouldn't put it past him to figure a way around my tracking skills but there should be no way he would be able to get past Kiba. Even he cannot erase his scent, he's not that good._

As they were both in their respective trances of thought, they almost did not notice a patch of blonde hair disappearing onto the next street. Sakura, however, barely caught a glimpse of it at the last second. "Naruto?" She yelled as she ran to catch up with the person.

Said person screeched to a halt and turned. "Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?" The boy asked inquisitively as both Sakura and Shino stopped a few paces in front of him.

Sakura seethed in anger. Did the boy really not know that they were hunting him down, or was he just playing stupid? _Heh, knowing how thick headed Naruto is I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't realize we were looking for him._ Sakura's anger died down when she noticed an unconscious Hinata in his arms. "What happened to her?" Sakura asked pointing a finger at the unconscious Hyuuga heiress.

Naruto sighed remorsefully before recounting everything that had happened. He conveniently left out his conversations with Minato knowing that they would cause more than a little bit of commotion. Shino requested to relieve Naruto of his burden but Naruto said that it was okay since he was a kage bunshin.

"Kage bunshin, so you mean to tell me that Naruto is still out there somewhere?"

The kage bunshin Naruto nodded. "He is using the rest of his kage bunshin to wake the town. Gatoh and his men are encircling the island as we speak." Sakura paled and began babbling unintelligibly.

"W-we have to find Kakashi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei _now_." Sakura yelled, flustered.

The clone nodded. "Naruto has already sent out other clones to find the rest of the team and everybody is to meet up in the town square. If I know Kakashi-sensei well enough then he should be there when we arrive. Let's go!" The blonde haired clone commanded and the two Konoha shinobi followed after him at a breakneck pace.

Shino silently observed the Naruto from the rear. _Interesting, in times of conflict the most unlikely person to take command is giving orders. Sound orders at that. It would be prudent to keep an eye on this one as it may prove beneficial in the near future._ Shino sent one of his kikaichu to the blonde and was fairly surprised when the bug simply veered off course and returned to him distraught and disoriented. Shino frowned; displeased. _At least I know that that is how Naruto had been avoiding detection. Now I just need to figure out why. Just what are you Naruto?_

- -

A loud cacophony of sound erupted far from the edge of the city. Screams of fright and distress washed over the village. The deadly game had begun.

- -

Revised 20/03/2008

A/N: I actually hated the previous version and it went contradictory to my original intents. Sorry to everyone who was expecting for the story to proceed along the lines of the chapter before the revision.


	7. Chapter VI: Of Clouds and Dreams

Brotherhood

_**Brotherhood**_

Summary: They fought like brothers, they bickered like brothers, and they defended each other as brothers, now they must prove how strong the bond of a brother really is. The brotherhood of Konoha of this generation must persevere and embrace the will of fire.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto® Kishimoto-sama does!

_**Chapter 6: Of Clouds and Dreams**_

The heavy winds tore through the canopy of the ancient oak tree that Zabuza had perched himself on. His eyes closed, he listened as the wind whipped and whistled around his crouched form. A dull padded thump sounded behind him but he didn't budge. "Report, Haku."

"Hai," A tall, masked, brunette-haired boy said. "Gatoh has moved his men before us and is currently engaging Konoha's shinobi."

Zabuza stood up and plucked his head cleaver from the tree. He turned to Haku as he secured the mighty blade on his back. "We are going to have a change of plan. Right now Gatoh is weak and vulnerable. I am going to sever the weak chain. You, I want to incapacitate as many of Gatoh's men as possible."

Haku nodded, "Might as well abandon this ship before it sinks." With that, he dissipated into a cloud of mist.

Zabuza shuddered. "Sometimes that boy creeps me out…" He then leapt off to Gatoh's forest encampment.

- -

The sheer number of bandits was staggering. Sasuke sidestepped a hail of crossbow bolts that rained down on him. Sweat poured from his brow as he blasted a fireball at five unsuspecting bandits. Screams and yells erupted from the center of the intense but brief blast. Within seconds, the fire dissipated and six or seven _more_ bandits filled the place of their wounded comrades.

"How many are there!" Kiba yelled as he hurled a pair of kunai at one of the men that had begun to charge. He fell to his knees and Sasuke incapacitated him with a swift strike to the neck.

"We have," Sasuke started as he cleaned house with the remaining six bandits, "no time to think about such trivial things."

Kiba exhaled heavily in relief as he saw that the road was clear. He knew that wasn't all of the bandits as he still heard the sound of fighting carried on the wind. The moans and groans at Kiba's feet caught his attention. One of Gatoh's men began to come around.

Kiba kicked the man forcefully and he went limp again. "Ne, Sasuke, what are we going to do with them?" Kiba said pointing a thumb at the unconscious bodies lying around. "We can't just leave them here."

"We don't have time to deal with garbage." Sasuke scoffed. Without hesitation, he headed off to another section of the city.

"Damn jackass." Kiba muttered before leaping off after him.

- -

"Kuso!" Naruto leapt forward with a burst of chakra. With a mighty cry, he buried his fist in one bandit's gut, knocking him away from Sakura who was protecting a group of cowering children. He rolled for a few meters before coming to a stop.

"Arigatou." Naruto nodded before turning back to the fray.

His one eye located three targets and the dark clad shinobi whipped a few kunai in that direction. Two missed their mark and Naruto cursed. Shino who creeping up on them from behind managed to disarm one of them as his kikaichu swarmed around them angrily. Naruto got the other with a well-placed kick to the face.

"Naruto, conserve your chakra, my scouts report about ninety or so bandits on the island." Sakura paled and Naruto's jaw dropped.

"That many?" Shino sadly nodded. Naruto sighed, he was mildly tired from his experience the night before and he was worried about Hinata's eyes.

"Naruto' let's get these civilians to safety." The blonde nodded and lead the three children to safety.

The kids followed close behind Naruto, the youngest clung desperately to his arm. "Don't worry; I won't let anyone hurt you." Inwardly he was shaking with fear and self-doubt. This was something not taught in the academy, and Naruto was fearful for his life and the life of his friends.

Shino who was watching their back made a peculiar hand motion and a pile of rubble faded away revealing a weary, battle- worn Hinata. "Once we reach the center you can rest." The Hyuuga heiress nodded, falling in step with her teammate's steady clip.

- -

His moves were swift and fluid, his strikes accurate and precise. Every move he made was beautifully and artistically lethal. Haku weaved in and out of Gatoh's thugs leaving a path of death in his wake. Each one was felled with a single senbon to the heart.

The masked nin darted into the shadows as a group of about five bandits passed by. They didn't notice him. With a miniscule amount of chakra, he formed five senbon out of water. _These men are despicable, looting and burning hard-working villager's homes._ Haku's hands moved to launch his senbon but a flicker of steel stopped him. All five bandits slumped to the ground with kunai buried deep into their backs. A silver-haired shinobi bent down and bound the bandits with steel cable.

_It is the Copy Ninja…_ A mild wave of fear slightly overtook him. _What if he attacks me?_

"How long are you going to stand in the shadows?"

"!"

Haku dispelled his senbon and inched out from his hiding place tentatively. Kakashi's expression was unreadable as he appraised Haku carefully. "I see, so you are Zabuza's protégé."

Haku's eyes widened and his heart began to pound faster and faster. "H-how long have you known?"

"I merely hazarded a guess." Kakashi replied. In one swift motion, he plucked all five bloody kunai from the backs of the fallen bandits. "Since you are here I assume Zabuza is as well. What are your intentions?" Kakashi slightly widened his stance as if preparing to fight.

Haku fearfully took some steps back. _I have to get out of here!_ "Z-Zabuza-san plans to eliminate Gatoh himself. I was sent here alone."

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed slightly scrutinizing the boy even more. The silence was excruciatingly tense and beads of sweat began to run down Haku's face. Suddenly Kakashi spoke dissipating the tension. "If I find that you were lying and your actions bring harm to my charges I will kill you and Zabuza." With that, Kakashi disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves.

Haku exhaled a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He raised his trembling hands to eye level._ I think that was about the most terrifying experience I have ever had with another shinobi, just his presence… Zabuza-san, to be able to stand up to him, just how strong are you?_

- -

Another villager fell victim to the bandit's powerful blade. His eyes were glazed over in madness, intoxicated by the thick coppery scent of fresh blood. _Ooh how I love it so. _The man giggled in delight as he plodded through the village streets among the carnage. A concrete retaining wall far behind him exploded in a grand fireball that reached for the heavens. The heat wave from the blast scorched his back and he guffawed madly. "This is what in means to live!"

His joy was immediately quashed as a fierce jab to his back left him paralyzed. "I guess this means your fun is over." Hinata stepped over the prone body and drove an intense spike of chakra through the man's head. He did not get up.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled as he raced up beside her.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Come, quick, they have breached the wall near where Kurenai-sensei has been protecting the villagers." She did not have to be told twice and she bolted after Naruto.

Naruto made his simple cross-shaped seal and about ten clones came darting beside him. "We might need the extra help."

By the time, Naruto and Hinata reached the battlefront several of the bandits and villagers lay in various stages of dying. They didn't even have time to be horrified by the sight. In the middle of a crowd of about thirty bandits, Kurenai stood her ground with Kiba and Sasuke at her flanks.

"Took you long enough dobe!" Sasuke yelled as he forcefully drove a kunai in a bandit's chest before launching himself off said bandit's body, barreling into two others.

"Urusei!" Naruto began channeling chakra into his fists, pounding each foe in the face. With each satisfying crunch Naruto's grin brew wider. Hinata passed opposite his direction heading straight for the middle.

_Even without my eyes…I can still fight!_ Erupting into a flurry of jyuuken strikes Hinata immediately palmed two unsuspecting thugs in the back before immediately pivoting and thrusting a well aimed strike at the throat of a man who thought he could rush her. He fell and Hinata used his body to leap high over the heads of all of the thugs. In the air, performing an amazing feat of acrobatics, she spun using chakra and launched three kunai into the chests of three nearby enemies. Lightly landing she leapt back into the fray.

Kiba stood off and watched, mesmerized by the incredible display of power. He whistled in awe. "Damn, she's whooping their ass."

Though Kurenai wouldn't use those exact terms she agreed with Kiba. _She really has grown._ Her gaze turned to Naruto who was performing equally well as he finished off the last of the bandits in the area. _It is undeniable; he was the catalyst for such a drastic change._

As the last bandit fell to Naruto's blade, they all grouped up in the center. The civilians who watched from behind the rubble slowly trickled out from their hiding places.

"I think that may be all of them, patrol the area and look for any surviving villagers. If there are any roaming bandits you know what to do." Kurenai commanded. The four genin nodded and dashed off. _Now all that is left to do is to wait for Kakashi to return._ Kurenai looked up in the sky, noticing that the sun was beginning to sink behind the horizon. _A full day and we are still not done yet._

- -

Zabuza inched across the tiled roof of Gatoh's compound, careful to make not a sound. He spied an open window and crawled inside. _This is easy…way too easy._ Just as he finished his thought, the sound of a spring trap going off reached his ears. _Shimatta!_ Zabuza rolled to get out of the way of kunai that landed mere millimeters away from where he had previously been. A final delayed kunai streaked for his face but Zabuza whipped his blade from his back and cleaved the projectile in two.

"Heh, it will take more than that to kill me Kakashi." The silver haired jounin simply materialized in one shadowy corner.

"Yare, yare, and here I was hoping I wouldn't have to spare the effort."

"Cut the crap, Kakashi, why are you here and not with your snot nosed little brats?" Zabuza snarled.

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow amusedly, "have you forgotten the strength of my genin? Or are you only feigning ignorance? Surely, my subordinates can take care of a few ruffians. If not Kurenai-san is more than capable."

"Whatever, just don't get in my way. Gatoh's mine."

"As you wish," Kakashi poofed away in a cloud of smoke as if he was never there.

_Che, a clone, bastard was probably never here!_ Zabuza slung his blade over his shoulder and disappeared into the dark corridors.

_-_ -

Outside of the complex Kakashi stepped out from between the trees. "So, that masked kid was telling the truth. Curious." With that, the real Kakashi disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves.

- -

His adrenaline was pumping at a feverish pace through his veins. Three had already fallen by his blade and it cried out for more blood. _Hah, this is exhilarating! A shame there are so few guards…_ Zabuza made his way through the mazelike corridors coming to an ornate shoji door. He could hear voices from the other side.

"Nani! You mean to tell me that they _failed_!?" Zabuza cracked the door open a little and listened. "How could a _few_ Konoha brats defeat my cold blooded killers? What happened to those Iwa castoffs I hired?" _Wow, Kakashi was actually right… Maybe I give Konoha a little too little credit._

"T-they deserted sir." A rat-like quivered as he bowed low before the pudgy, well-dressed businessman.

"Why those dirty scumbags. Never could trust those nuke-nin. I'll show em'." Zabuza was preparing to move, his blade clutched tightly in his hand when he saw Gatoh go to open the vault. _Jackpot!_ Zabuza's eyes glinted in glee.

As the last of the tumblers fell into place and the vault door swung open Zabuza leapt into action. Bursting through the rice paper door Zabuza went straight for Gatoh; his blade severing the man's head clean from his shoulders. Blood spurted from the wound as Gatoh's decapitated body fell limp to the floor in a bloody heap.

The other man screamed in absolute terror as Zabuza slowly approached him. "S-stay back!" He screeched as he backed himself into a corner. He tremblingly whipped a flimsy dagger from within his cloak. Zabuza slowly, hefted his blade onto his shoulders; Gatoh's fresh blood dripped menacingly from the glinting steel.

Zabuza merely grinned, his teeth showing in the darkness. "Now, why would I do something like that?" The man barely had time to scream as Zabuza's blade cleaved him in two. His body slumped to the floor dead, rent from shoulder to hip.

Zabuza re-strapped his blade to his back and headed for the vault. "Now let's see what we have here?"

- -

The process was long and arduous. Teams seven and eight had been searching through the rubble and debris for any surviving villagers. It was a solemn experience. In the center of the village, a funeral pyre burned. As much as fifteen men had died protecting their loved ones. Four women and nine children had lost their lives.

Atop the hill overseeing the somber procession team seven stood. Naruto's eyes were clouded and stormy, devoid of their normal lustre. _That was stupid and so freaking lame. Why did so many people have to die? Were we not strong enough?_ Naruto's fists clenched at his sides.

"Naruto."

The blonde snapped out of his revile remembering the voice of his friend. "Ah, gomen Sakura-chan, I need some time alone."

With that, Naruto leapt off for the beach. "He's taking this quite hard."

Sasuke who was there as well just watched as the blonde's back retreated into the darkness. "Aa."

- -

The sound of the waves were calming and soothing to the blonde's battle frayed nerves. The cool water and sand that flowed between his bare toes was one of the most relaxing feelings Naruto had experienced in a long, long time.

Out over the waves he could see the silhouette of a grouping of islands against the backdrop of the night sky. _This is so peaceful…_ Suddenly there was a rustling in the trees further up on the beach. Naruto immediately reached for a kunai only to find he had none. _Shimatta!_ He reached for the blades concealed in his sleeves when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Naruto-kun, how did I know I would find you out here?"

"H-Haku-kun?"

The older boy was wearing the garb of a hunter nin and a mask covered his face. Naruto immediately recognized the garb from before. _Haku was the one who was with Zabuza?! So that means…_ Naruto discretely slipped the crystalline blades from his sleeves into his hands and he buried them in the sand.

Haku removed his mask revealing his face to the blonde. He sat down next to the blonde. Naruto resisted the urge to lash out.

An awkward silence fell over the two as they looked over the rolling waves. Naruto broke the silence. "So you were that hunter nin that rescued Zabuza."

"Hai."

"Does, that make you my enemy." Naruto strained.

The boy fervently shook his head. "Iie, Zabuza-san has absolved himself of this conflict. That is what resulted in what happened today."

"You mean…"

Haku nodded. "We were supposed to fulfill our contract a few days ago but Zabuza-san decided it prudent to default on that particular agreement."

Naruto unburied his blades and admired their craftsmanship. Haku's eyes flickered to the small crystalline daggers. _This tugging feeling…what is this?_

"C-can I see that please?" Haku asked gesturing at one of the blades.

Naruto internally shrugged, _meh, I guess it couldn't hurt._ He passed Haku one of the small crystalline daggers.

As soon as Haku touched the delicate looking blade, a surge of chakra shot through his arm. Gasping in pain he nearly lost his grip on the small blade. _What power…how can so much chakra be contained in such a small little dagger?_

Haku stretched his arm out over the water, concentrating a small portion of his chakra through the small blade. An eerie green glow began to pulse from the hilt but Naruto just sat back and watched. A small thread of water shot into the air and then another slightly larger ribbon twirled around it.

"!"

Haku continued his display his precise control, weaving a lattice of complex strands in an intricate pattern. Naruto watched mesmerized. _Such precision and control…I am nowhere near that proficient in my abilities…Wait a minute…How can Haku-kun do that?_

"Ne. Haku-kun, how exactly _can_ you do that?" Naruto was already formulating theories in his head. _I wonder if he could be…no I shouldn't get my hopes up._

"This is my curse, a kekkei genkai that I inherited from my mother." Haku cast his eyes downward and let his control subside. The particles of water separated spraying them in a fine mist.

"I see." _Well that is not much to go on._ Naruto dropped the subject as it seemed to depress the brunette-haired boy.

"You should probably head back to your team. They are probably worried about you."

"Aa, what about you?"

"I'll go with you." The two shinobi got up and dashed into the village proper, leaving behind no traces that they had ever been there.

- -

By the time Naruto and Haku had reached the town square the fires had been doused and the villagers had retired to their homes, if it was still intact.

The eerie silence hung like a shadow over the port city. "Oi, you with Kakashi?" A plainly dressed villager yelled from across the street.

Naruto turned to him and nodded. "They're holdin some sort of meeting up at Tazuna's place. Heard something bout the Daimyo or another. Don't know exactly what's goin on but I spect it's mighty important." The man rambled.

"Arigatou." Naruto quickly shuffled away with Haku in tow. Just being in the man's presence was enough to upset Naruto.

Tazuna's house seemed to have eluded much damage save for a few broken windows and a charred porch bench. _I guess a home away from the center of town can be a plus._ A dense crowd of the displaced villagers stood anxiously in a semicircle around a dark haired figure. Naruto cursed his height, or lack thereof. "Wonder what's goin on?" Naruto thought aloud.

"Whatever it is we should probably take a look."

"Aa."

Naruto and Haku slinked through the crowd to get to the forefront. Torches had been erected to provide adequate light for a large area. In the middle of the semicircle of villagers Kurenai-sensei was kneeling before a stocky balding man. Hinata kneeled at her left, Shino, and Kiba were right behind her. Even Akamaru seemed to be kneeling, as well as a dog could kneel anyways.

_What is this?_

Haku could see the confusion on the blonde's face. His eyes revealed it all. "It is a diplomatic meeting. That man is the Daimyo of Nami no Kuni."

Realization dawned on the blonde. _I'm sure Hinata-chan told me something about a diplomatic meeting or something like that during a training session. Something about a satellite state or something like that…_

"Very, well," The man declared loudly; rolling up a small . The crowd seemed to grow even more silent. "Today, we witnessed a momentous event. Single handedly a select group of dedicated shinobi felled an army of Gatoh's finest soldiers. Even though this victory wasn't without its losses it is undeniable that without Konoha's intervention, Nami no Kuni would have ceased to exist this very day."

"Now is a time to celebrate as of today Nami no Kuni will forever be under Konoha's cloak of protection, let us enjoy an era of peace and prosperity!" The man stamped his seal on the scroll and rolled it back up. The action was met with a round of cheers from the crowd. Seemingly out of nowhere, cups of sake were clinking and music began to play. It was time for celebration!

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto spied Kakashi in the upper window looking down at them. He nudged Haku and pointed. The brunette nodded and they made their way through the crowd to Tazuna's house.

They entered silently and slipped their way up the stairs. When they reached the upper room they were surprised to see both teams, Tazuna, Tsunami, and Zabuza. Even the Daimyo was there.

"This is…"

"Shut the door behind you Naruto." The genin eyed Naruto warily as he brought Haku inside.

Naruto complied and shut the door. A blue flash of chakra almost blinded him. _Gah, stupid flashing chakra,_ Naruto tried, quite unsuccessfully, to rub the twinkling lights in his vision.

"First off, I think it prudent to escort Yoshida-sama back to his manse." A quick glance at Naruto was all that was necessary.

"Ah yes, It is about time I retire for the night." The man excused himself and two of Naruto's clones, who were waiting outside of the door, walked him out.

Sasuke's eye's narrowed. _Since when could the dobe create clones so silently? Hell, since when could the dobe even throw a simple kunai straight? This rapid increase in power…I will have to increase my training. I will not be bested by him._

"Now, this is strictly a matter of shinobi, Tazuna-san, Tsunami-san, if you will." The bridge builder and his daughter left the room and it was just the shinobi left in the room.

Haku shifted uncomfortably under the furtive glances of the Konoha genin, especially those of the pale lavender-eyed Hyuuga heiress.

"Let's begin shall we, Naruto and Sasuke, you two will accompany Tazuna-san when he goes out to the bridge in the morning. If you can, do anything and everything in your power to help. The sooner the bridge is completed, the sooner we can leave."

"Team Eight will be going around and shoring up any damages that were inflicted by Gatoh's thugs; Sakura, you will accompany them. If that is all then we should prepare to turn in for the night; it has been a long day." Groans of consent erupted from the dead-tired genin as they filed out of the small, makeshift meeting room. All except Naruto, that is.

His eyes flickered to Zabuza who had been silent the entire time. "Ne, what do you plan on doing?"

The tall burly man, almost inaudible grunted a reply. "I'm gonna clean out that place Gatoh had and set up a shinobi training academy of sorts for these Nami brats. At least they won't be totally helpless if something like this were to happen again."

"So you plan on staying here Zabuza-san?" Haku interjected.

"Aa."

"But what about your ambition to rid Mizu no Kuni of its corruption, have you given up on your dream?" Haku's voice seemed to rise steadily until soon he was shouting.

"Aa, there are some things, that no matter how much struggling you do; will still end in failure, even struggling for the right things…" The statement hit both Haku and Naruto like a ton of bricks.

_Could that be true? Could it really be that some goals are truly impossible to accomplish?_ Flashes of imagined failure danced behind his eyes. Flashes of rejection, flashes of pain overloaded the blonde's stress strained mind and sagged to his knees, sapphire eye wide with imagined fear. _No, no, NO!_ Fiercely the blonde shredded the images in his mind, unknowingly he had begun stabbing himself repeatedly with a kunai in order to drive the images away.

"Naruto-kun, yamero!" Haku yelled throwing himself on the blonde Konoha genin. Both boy's tumbled on the ground and Haku yanked the bloody kunai from Naruto's grip and flung it to the wall.

Haku rolled off Naruto and saw that he was unconscious, probably from blood loss. Suddenly a cacophony of footsteps pounded up the steps. Zabuza took a few steps towards the window as a frantic Hinata burst through the door, her Byakugan blazing.

"What happened here?" She shoved Haku out of the way, as she tried to assess the damage to the boy with her limited medical knowledge. "Superficial wounds, how did Naruto-kun get them?"

"Zabuza-san said something and it set him off I think…" Haku offered weakly.

Hinata's Byakugan receded but her glare shifted to the man who was discreetly inching for the open window. "What could you have possibly said that would make Naruto-kun do that?" Hinata's voice was sharp as steel and the man visibly flinched.

The man backed up as the smaller girl got up and slowly approached him. _Oh shit, oh shit…_ The mantra continued to get louder in his head as the girl approached. It wasn't that he was truly afraid of the girl, more like it was the whole concept of dealing with angry females in general.

Soon Kurenai came and Hinata stopped her advance. Zabuza internally sighed as the girl's sensei distracted her. His esteem for the crimson-eyed jounin jumped up a peg. _Note to self, never piss of a Hyuuga female, ever._

Haku was informing Kurenai of all of the smaller details of what had happened and the jounin nodded in thanks. Using her limited healing techniques, she sealed up all of the larger gashes on his thighs and abdomen as his smaller cuts seemed to have healed already. _It must be the healing power of the Kyuubi…_ Using a damp cloth, that Hinata had brought, she wiped away all of the blood.

"Hinata, can you roll out Naruto's futon?"

"Hai, sensei." The girl immediately obeyed, as she would do anything for her blonde-haired crush. The bedroll was laid out and Kurenai lay the unconscious Naruto down.

"Let's go, Naruto needs his rest." Kurenai beckoned and the two Kiri nin followed her out as she doused the lights.

- -

Naruto felt his world spinning before his eyes as he careened precariously through the darkness. He could feel himself screaming but he heard no sound. The vortex of black spiraled around him. Occasionally a flash of menacing red ripped through the darkness and he could feel his flesh being pried from his bones. The torture was sheer agony but anything Naruto tried to do to alter his course failed.

Suddenly his descent halted as he collided with some hard surface. Every single bone in his body seemed to shatter in the same way a mirror would if smashed to a sledgehammer. His pain was absolute; there were no words, or expressions, that could possibly describe the amount of pain he experienced.

Miraculously he could move. Barely could he tilt his head, but each micromuscular twitch seemed to increase the pain tenfold. When he had moved his head to the side sufficiently enough to see an ocean of candles all around, his body was in so much pain blood, mixed with tears, streamed down his face.

Faintly he could see the dark silhouette of a man that was much taller than he was. _I'm here again…Hey I can think again!_ Naruto mused despite the pain. _Then that means that…Minato's here._

The younger blonde attempted to move to get a better look at the man. Minato merely knelt down and tipped the contents of a cup into Naruto's mouth. Suddenly the pain disappeared and Naruto had full functionality of all of his facilities.

"Arigatou, Minato-sama." The elder blonde merely waved him off as Naruto got up into a sitting position.

"You're gonna have to find a better way of sending yourself here. Your mind is going to fry from all the stress you put it under."

Naruto grinned and scratched behind his head sheepishly. "Ah ,gomen."

The elder blonde merely chuckled. "Do you know why you are here, Naruto?" The sudden change in the man's voice almost startled the blonde.

"Iie."

"This is something that should have been done when I sealed the Kyuubi into you. The Kyuubi should be here with me but for some reason he has been separated."

"Why, is he separated?"

Minato only sighed. "My only conclusion is that my seal was incomplete when I sealed the Kyuubi into you."

Panic began to rise into the blonde's chest. "W-what is wrong with the seal, can the Kyuubi be released?"

"Well…he would have been released if you were killed because the Kyuubi's soul has not been properly bound to your own; this is also one of the factors contributing to your sucky ass chakra control."

"Hey!" Naruto cried indignantly. "It's not _that_ bad."

The elder blonde snorted. "Like hell it isn't! I doubt you could even create a perfect kage bunshin even with the amount of practice you get since you spam the technique in a fight like a one trick pony."

"I do not!"

"Really, then name for me just _one_ technique you use besides kage bunshin." The man smirked when the younger blonde began muttering curses under his breath. "See, you can't."

Again, the man's voice changed. "Here's some advice from one fellow shinobi to another. Do not become dependent on any one jutsu. Kage bunshin is a powerful technique, but some shinobi can capitalize on a weakness like that."

Naruto mumbled something under his breath that was inaudible to Minato. "I think we should fix that seal _then_ we can work on fixing that landmine of flaws in your fighting style." The man chuckled as Naruto launched himself at the blonde but missed as Minato used the shunshin to get away.

- -

The wind was peaceful and serene, a heavy contrast to the inner turmoil Sandaime felt as he sat atop the Hokage monument overlooking the village. _It's so peaceful…to think that there are those who want to snatch that peace away._ The heavy sound of feet crunching on gravel approached him but Sarutobi didn't so much as twitch.

"Have you prepared the report to deliver to the council Danzo?" The aging Hokage asked. His eyes barely shifted to the captain of the ANBU Root Division.

"Hai, all matters are on your desk pending your approval Hokage-sama."

"Excellent, instruct your division to prepare for deployment in the villages of grass and mist in the morning."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." If one were looking one could see the gleam in the man's eye as he disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves.

_To think that instruments of war must be implemented again…It's regrettable. _The aging Hokage sighed again, his eyes saddened by what he was forced to put his village through. This time though, he had no idea how Konoha was going to pull through.

- -

A/N: This is somewhat how I pictured this chapter to come out. Sorry for those who thought I was going to follow my other plotline. I've kinda scrapped my other ideas but I think this has come out better. Review please and give me your ideas!


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